


In The End

by Spyrofury767



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha attitude, Are you in for the long run, Beware the man who speaks in hands, Body Horror, Brutality, Chock full of headcannons, Cruelty, DT injections, Dark. Just dark., Don't Like Don't Read, Fluff? What fluff?, Inner torment, It will get dark, Its all gone., Like god, Mean Scientist Gaster, Mentions of Genocide Route, OC backstory, OCs - Freeform, Parent Grillby (Undertale), Protection, Protective Grillby, READ ALL THE TAGS, Sans and Papyrus have a sister!, Swearing, THIS WILL BE HELL, Terror, Torture, Torturous hunting, Unethical Experimentation, Violence, Violent monster death, YOU WERE TOO LATE, as in literally eating souls, baby blaster au, but i try, don't like screw off, like a TON, not the best, not the sexual kind, oh god the angst, oh god the tags, ok here we go, only angst remains, she's badass, so many, soul eating, tags will update, this is not how babies are made, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:25:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 41,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6657637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyrofury767/pseuds/Spyrofury767
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ark 1, Is This Living, Or Just A Dream?; Chapters 1-10</p><p>When S-8 and P-12 were created, they had no idea of the deaths before them.</p><p>The dust spread upon the floor where they lay, the frantic running in the room they played in.</p><p>But who was the chaos bringer, the dark destroyer... who was the Chill of the night? </p><p>And why wasn't she killing them?</p><p>~~~</p><p>Ark 2, When Does the Horror End and Life Begin?; Chapters 11-16</p><p>The escape is left with unanswered questions, tales of horror, and more... and what of the sections of memory Chiller left without saying? </p><p>Where are those?</p><p>~~~</p><p>Ark 3, What is Recovery and Where Can I Get Some?; Chapters 17-??</p><p>Grillby starts to learn more of his new adopted children's past... while someone is hunting for them. With Chiller injured and neither boy in a condition to fight, will they stand a chance, or will they fall before their controller?</p><p>______</p><p>Minor Arks</p><p>Chara's Ark; chapters 1-12 beginnings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When she wakes

**Author's Note:**

> AWWWWWWWWWWWWW YESSSSSSSSS HERE WE GO!!!
> 
> First undertale, first multichapter! Here we go!
> 
> If you dont like OC's, get out. Now.

Sans slumped forward, tension leaving his shoulders as he fell asleep. The Child, a vicious grin upon their face, brought up the knife above their head, then swung down… 

  
  


Only to hit something very solid.

 

“Well well well… Isn’t that fighting dirty, PREY? Guess I need to teach you some manners.”

 

Standing between the Child and Sans, knife buried in the back of her hand, stood an upright, catlike skeleton on her knees, her black cloak emblazed with a red and deep purple star pattern. She looked up at the Child’s face with a grin before standing slowly...

 

ACT> Check> Chiller> LV??? ATK75 DEF20 

 

The Child gulped as her text appeared…

 

What is this thing? Why is it stronger than us?

 

______________________________

  
  


Log date 2-1-4-2xxx.

 

The DT experiments have gone horrible wrong, so I decided to begin a new project; Creating the perfect boss monster. I have already started generation 0, beginning with A-0, B-0 and C-0, code named Ambros, Betans and Chiller respectively. Ambros is a fish/bird cross, Betans is a Triscera, like the new intern’s daughter at the main labs, Alphys, and Chiller is an Animalistic Skeleton/Ghost cross. She has the most interesting biology of all of them. All three are steady for the time, SOULs remaining quite steady at 30% activity. I doubt any of them are aware yet, but I hope that they survive what I will do to them next. 

 

______________________________

 

Gaster looked his trio up and down in their lightly glowing, blue liquid. The tiny black monitors beside them blipped with their soul beats, as all three of them pushed magic through their growing forms.  _ C-0 will be the biggest…  _ Gaster thought, looking the lithe, catlike shape up and down, her body laced with grey wires. He walked over to her screen, phalanges clicking over the small, black keys with white symbols on them. After a few seconds, it showed her soul, intact and slightly off-white, as all young monsters (and dying monsters for that matter) did. Already, tiny streaks of colour were marring its pure white form, giving way to her personal magic. Ambros and Betans were nowhere near this powerful. 

 

Gaster made up his mind. 

 

He was going to start forcing Boss magic into her system. 

 

Reaching into his coat pocket, bones catching on some of the fibres, he found his recorder, fingers wrapping around it, only to fish it out and hook it onto the neckline of his coat. He pressed the record button, the dull click echoing through the silent hall. A small spark of purple flitted across C-0’s eyelid, but Gaster didn’t notice. He was busy setting up the Magic transfer. 

 

“Log date 2-1-4-2xxx/2. I am about to attempt a boss monster magic transfer to Subject C-0. She already is establishing her SOUL coloration, and it would be intelligent to give her the magic before her soul fully forms. Being partially made from a boss monster, myself, she will almost definitely accept the magic at this point in her life.” Gaster moved his coat aside to reveal the small chunk of bone out of his spine that was missing. He attached one of the tubes to the spot. “Almost guaranteed that the transfer will remove a good portion of my boss monster abilities, but the result, combined with the DT I plan on injecting her with, should be worth it. She should be far stronger than I ever was.” Screwing the tube into his spine, he rested one of his fingers on the bright red button. “Oh well, for science, there is always sacrifices. Beginning Magic Transfer in 3, 2, 1!” Gaster slapped his hand on the button and gasped, falling to the floor. It felt like his soul was tearing itself apart, and it was taking every inch of his willpower to not rip the painful, mind destroying object from his spine, but he held on. Good god did it hurt, the shredding, fierce sensation of a voracious animal sucking the lifeblood from his bones, until finally, it just stopped. 

 

His chest heaved, even without lungs, and his magic fluttered in his chest, just barely keeping a solid form, not collapsing into a pile of bones on the floor. Slowly, he lay down on the hard, cold concrete, listening to his own breathing, the edges of his vision a dull black. Eventually, the black began to fade, and Gaster could sit up again. Reaching up, Gaster slapped a hand onto his desk, gripping it’s smooth surface as best he could, then he slowly dragged himself up until he could lean on the desk. Room tilting, Gaster sat on the edge of the desk, waiting for the vertigo to stop. Finally, he straightened up, rubbing his face, eyes flitting to his creation. She was crackling, energy lacing her thin, lithe form, the diminutive, knifelike teeth showing as her ‘lips’ were pulled back from her fangs. Every nonexistent tendon on her body was pulled taught, several of the little grey wires connected to her body snapped cleanly off the bone, magic leaking into the fluid that fills her small container. Her eyes were open, but empty. Claws flashed and flicked out from the bone-flesh-sheath that covered her lower arms and leg, straining until they cracked, long, thick lightning-like streaks tracing her limbs, mouth open in a soundless scream as a bright flash of light blazed across her face, the pupils of her eyes appearing, at first in white circles, looking shocked, only to morph into white slits, then to fill in with bright purple magic. The slits flicked and narrowed, focusing on nothing, until another snap of energy crackled across her face and tiny cracks appeared on the tops and bottoms of her eyes, tiny, slightly curved, point shaped cracks, less than a centimetre wide and long. Slowly, the energy stopped, and she relaxed, back into sleep. 

 

Gaster carefully tapped on the screen of her monitor. 

 

Subject C-0, Codename; Chiller

 

Magical Concentration; %87.2873

Soul Activity; %79.46

Attack; 17

Defence; 9

HP; 36

LV; 3

 

_ Wow. _ Gaster thought, scrolling through her information. She was strong.  _ Congratulations, Dr. W.D. Gaster, you are on your way to creating a boss monster.  _ Suddenly, her closed eyes, showing the tiny cracks, flicked open, purple slits wide and calm, gazing semi-blindly about the room, until the pointed snout and fierce eyes fell to him, pupils thinning straight down to tiny slashes of light in the voided, empty blackness of her eyes. They moved downward just a bit. A low, cold rumble filled the air. Gaster took a tiny step away from the glass wall, until, after several tense seconds, The pupils vanished and her eyes closed. 

 

It took the scientist several minutes to regain his composure enough to edge closer to her little monitor, although he wanted to go home  _ right there  _ and hide in the bathtub or under a pile of blankets with a good book. There had been something to her eyes, something of a cold vengeance. Gaster nervously rubbed his throat, where his SOUL normally reside unless in battle. He knew that she would act… strangely, as the instincts he had given to her would be more predatory toward both monsters and humans, but not like this. For her eyes to instantly meet his own, then flick downward just slightly to the left of his C5 vertebra, the exact place where his SOUL resided, was disturbing. Maybe it was coincedence, but Gaster knew better. Her scan ability was far, far stronger than he had anticipated.  _ Good predatory adaptation, but… Terrifying.  _ He thought, head sinking a bit into the collar of his lab coat. That was enough for tonight. He flicked off the lights after making sure the other two were stable, and he locked the lab as he left.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-1-7-2xxx.

 

Today, I took another look at Chiller’s soul. It’s shaping up nicely, even though I am a cross between concerned and scared about her awakening. I wasn’t exactly surprised when she woke up, but then her focusing on my soul… I’m not sure how much I like this plan anymore. Whatever, I need to make some sacrifices if I ever want to help monsterkind. Most, if not all of my Purple ability has vanished, and all of my Green is gone. I still have all my previous use of Blue and Yellow, but my Light Blue has diminished somewhat. I wish to- Nevermind, I’m not studying myself here.

 

Anyway, C-0 is getting stronger by the day, and I believe taking her out of the tube may be in order, although unintellegent. She is weaker than myself, for the moment, but still powerful. If I were to take her in a one on one, right now, I doubt I would escape with more than a quarter of my current health. I suppose I should give a rundown of her body style then. 

 

She is long, even as a child, a little under 3 feet, not including tail. The tail gives her about five feet. Her jaw is small, thin, built for small, quick snaps and nothing more, but it’s the strength of her MMCG (Magic-Muscular Coordination Grid) that concerns me. Simulations run show that she could run well over the speed of a wind elemental, approximately 50 km/h at the moment. She also has claws, long, thin, serrated claws, built for tearing through a monster’s body at the moment. They don’t look to be good for flesh right now. Maybe they’ll grow smooth as she gets older. For now, I remain without tests and indecisive.

 

~~~

 

Log date 2-1-8-2xxx.

 

I’ve decided to let C-0 out of containment. She is strong, powerful. Stronger than all the other creations I've ever had put together. B-0 and A-0 are now on a steady uptick of strength, now on a Magic Transfer. They are stable as well, Boss monster magic acting well on their small systems.

 

A-0 is thickset and heavy, SOUL energy leaning more toward Orange, Yellow and Green. He has feather-like scales, thin and fluttery, a deep burgundy red. Long teeth, but blunt fingers. He’s going to be a power hitter, not a controlled killer. His muscles are huge compared to C-0 or B-0’s, so his body is unbelievably strange to me.

 

B-0 is small, thin, and powerful. His magic is somewhere in the middle of the compared to the other two, with C-0’s being at the higher end of the spectrum, A-0 at the lower. He might be quick, but no way to be certain without doing some serious modifications to his magic. I don’t care to injure him though, so until he wakes up, no confirmation. So I prepare to let out my most powerful asset. Welcome to the world, I guess.

 

~~~

 

Log date 2-2-0-2xxx

 

I’ve made a horrible mistake.

 

______________________________

 

The blue containment fluid slowly drained from her tank, leaving her thin, bone shape lying delicately on the concrete base, the thin grey wires snaking off her skeleton, the tube stuck down her throat to help her invisible lungs breathe… It looked strange on her powerful body. Gaster started counting his customary thirty seconds of peace before he went to go get the limp body, but at about ten, her eyes flashed open and she gasped harshly, choking on the object down her throat. Gaster jumped back in shock. This had never happened before.

 

Frantically, she clawed at the intrusive tube, trying to rip it out of her muzzle, until she settled instead on simply cutting it from her face, claws tearing into the rubbery plastic, slipping on the thin metal wires ringing the tube to support the structure. Her claws tore through the plastic, gripping the wires and tearing the spring-like shape to pieces, denting the metal strings that laced the structure. Finally, her jaw opened to almost snakelike width, she gave a set of loud coughs, as her paws shoved down, and with a loud ripping and an angry growl, the artificial respiration tube was violently torn from her throat. She took in a deep, heaving pant of air, ribs expanding as she sucked in oxygen repeatedly. Gaster stood in amazement and fear as she panted, eyes wide and legs splayed, limbs shaking slightly as she struggled to stand. Eventually, her panting slowed and the shaking did a little as well, only truly showing whenever she breathed out, until she let out one slow, smooth breath, and her eyes closed. They flicked open on the inhale, and she looked around, eventually settling on Gaster’s face. She stared at him quizzically, like she was trying to identify his purpose, then she looked at her paw. Slowly, she raised the paw to her nose, and curled the claws inward, one after the other, and slowly let them straighten outward again. She rolled her wrist, examining her claws, sliding them in and out carefully, watching, waiting. She took a step forward, slightly off balance and uncoordinated. Then another, a little smoother. And another. And another, until she strode around the tube with a catlike grace. After a few more steps, she sat in the centre of the tube and opened her mouth, causing Gaster to take a careful step back. She had summoned a long, thin, semi-transparent, purple magic tongue, that was split on the ends, like a lizard’s tongue. With deft, quick strokes, she began to lick the gooey blue fluid from her bones, systematically cleaning herself as Gaster watched in amazement. 

 

Eventually, she stood up, leaned her head down and her back up, rearing forward in a long, feline stretch, until the magic in her spine made a few pops. She straightened, shook herself out, then sat patiently in the middle of the tube, watching Gaster with an unknown coolness to her gaze. Her tail curved around her paws, flicking and twitching on the cold ground. Gaster stood, a little unsure. This had never happened before, an experiment waking up directly from containment. Slowly, he walked over to the control pad for her tube, activating the release. The alarm made a sharp ring, which caused C-0 to… fold the horns ontop of her thin head to the back of her neck?  _ Are those her… Ears?  _ Gaster stared at her until the glass had fully lifted off the concrete pad, then he knelt down, trying to make himself less imposing to her. He had programmed her, he knew how she would think. She had a highly developed predatory instinct, unbelievable senses and a fierce attitude, according to her scans. But at the moment, she was still a child, so even though her predatory instincts were there, they were dormant. Instead, the purple eyes lit up with curiosity. 

 

“Here, girl, c’mere… wsss wsss wsss…” Gaster called quietly to her, not wanting to speak in wingdings for fear of frightening her with its loud clicks and whistles. He extended a hand, and C-0 took a careful step forward, tilting her head in strange wonderment at his phalanges as she crept toward him. Eventually she reared up, placing her paws into his hand, staring at the bone beneath her toes, then up at his face. With a curious  _ murr? _ noise, she tilted her head, and her horns seemed to flop over the side of her head a little. Gaster brought up his other hand to the side of her head slowly, and she switched to glaring warily at that, staring between his face and hand, until she settled on his face, letting Gaster lay a hand on the back of her head, stroking her oddly soft bone that felt a little like fur. After a few minutes of petting her, his phalanges slid down her sharp spine, the spikes on the vertebra scratching a little on the palm of his hand, until her scooped under her pelvis and tail, pulling her into a gentle, upright hold, like he was holding an actual cat. She placed her paws on his shoulder and looked over his back, at the grey stone lab behind as he walked her to the small room Gaster had prepared for her. Exhausted from her awakening earlier, her head nodded until it touched down on Gaster’s shoulder and her breathing softened, ears lying back a bit. Gaster smiled slightly.  _ Who said genetic experiments had to be unethical?  _


	2. Book of Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster learns of C-0's attitude of hunting... And her violence.

 

The Child yanked back the knife in shock, watching it rip out of the strange creature’s flesh...bone? It bled a blackish-red substance all over the blade, as Sans gasped in shock behind the creature. 

 

It straightened. 

 

It stood a good 5 feet above the Child, to the point where they had to crane their neck to see it’s face.

 

“Chiller…” Sans gasped, staring at its tall form.

 

“Well, PREY… You’ve already taken one brother from me. You won’t get the other.” It growled, taking a step forward. The Child stepped back. The text seemed dripping with blood, the bright red liquid flowing off the letters and out of the textbox. 

 

_ This is new…  _ The Demon thought, frightenedly.

 

______________________________

  
  


Log date 2-2-4-2xxx

 

C-0 is an… interesting animal. She’s beautifully swift and predatory, but also a little clumsy and has a kittenish curiosity, that disappears with each passing day. Each day, she grows more and more confident, she trips over her feet less, and by day two she had stopped chasing her tail entirely. It’s a little saddening almost. 

 

On another note, I have taken it to extract A-0 and B-0 from their containment. Neither of their awakenings were as… Explosive as C-0’s. Both were on life support for less than a day, however, which is a cross between spectacular and worrying. I’m not sure how I feel.    
  


Upon introducing the three in hopes that they may grow a bond, I noted a visible tension between C-0 and A-0, both of whom have very alphatic attitudes, while Betans seems to be content to sit and wait by the sidelines. Anger grows by the day between those two, and while it is entertaining to watch them avoid each other with a passion, I have a chill in the pit of my stomach that one of the pair will kill the other.

 

On another note, I captured a trio of Whimsun to examine C-0’s hunting habits. When released into her (PRIVATE) room, she didn’t move, instead continuing to sit where she was and watching them intently. I decided to leave her alone with them, check back later.

 

When I came back, less than 20 minutes later, all three Whimsun were dust on the floor.

 

______________________________

 

The side door opened with the silent squeak of oiled hinges, releasing a pair of oddly green, small monsters into her room. C-0 rolled over to take a long, cold look at the new creatures. Both of them regarded her with a slight fear as she located the glowing sparks of energy in their bodies, the spots where their souls were stored. She thought nothing of it, but the creatures were cowering in a corner for the first several minutes.  _ Boring. _ She recognised the feeling from earlier, but she didn’t know enough of these things yet. 

 

So she watched. And she waited.

 

About 15 minutes later, she had watched enough of their patterns to know exactly how they were going to move when she attacked. And so her nonchalant attitude of tired aloofness vanished, and she showed the predator she was supposed to be. She knew what she was.

 

Behind the bulletproof glass of her containment room, a rather disappointed Gaster suddenly straightened, twisting to stare at her movement. 

 

C-0 straightened onto her four paws, starting with a yawn and extending her arms long in front of her body, claws sliding out as her bones popped back into position. Then she slid off the small platform bed like a liquid, beginning to creep up to the two squat, green animals. The one jumped away from her, but the other didn’t move. She paused, taking long enough to look the creature up and down, before her head snapped forward, teeth sinking into the green creature’s head. Bright green blood welled up from beneath her fangs, spilling down her muzzle and onto the grey floor. Gaster jumped back in slight surprise, the other creature shrieking in horror and terror, watching as C-0 whipped her head to the side. There was a vicious tearing noise and the green creature’s head was torn straight from it’s neck, a long spray of green blood painting the floor and wall as several of the vertebrae, snapped cleanly from the spinal cord, fell onto the floor in the streak of pooling green liquid, sending tiny splats of it all over the floor. The other creature screamed again, and started bounding away as C-0 bit down heavily, dusting the head of the monster with the vicious crunch of bones and another thick mist of green blood coated the front of her face. She drove the tip of her muzzle into the neck of the monster, teeth squirming through the gore to find its soul, until she locked onto the smooth, warm, inverted heart that felt a little like living glass. Another quiet snarl permeated the air, and the soul’s strings were snapped as she ripped it from the body. With one quick bob of her head and the quick  _ click  _ of her teeth snapping shut, she caught the soul near the back of her teeth and in one birdlike motion… 

 

She swallowed the soul whole.

 

Gaster’s jaw dropped. He had never seen THIS before! His creation… Brutally devouring a soul? 

 

The other creature barely had time to process this before C-0’s teeth had closed around it’s stomach, teeth tearing at the vulnerable flesh, biting down until her teeth cracked ribs, warm marrow flowing from the body as it split in two, oddly colored viscera splattering onto the other’s dust as she rent the corpse into pieces, grabbing the floating, white soul so hard it cracked, before viciously gripping it with her tongue and forcing it down her throat as well. The room went silent except for the light swishing of monster dust falling to the floor. 

 

It took a long ten minutes for Gaster to look away from the dust on the ground, where intestines had lain moments earlier.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-2-6-2xxx

 

I am going to continue to ignore the previous days events.

 

The three experiments get along with an unknown edginess. C-0 and B-0 appear to like each other’s company, even going as far as making a half-hearted attempt at conversation in sharp growls and purrs. C-0 and A-0, however, share a seething hate for the other. Tension is rising, and the dam is going to break. B-0 is treated rudely by A-0, while C-0 treats him with respect and kindness. Just for curiosity’s sake, I lowered the temperature in their shared room (Yes I put them all in the same room, because if the last experiment taught me anything, it’s that young creatures don’t deal well in solitary confinement, despite the fact that C-0 doesn’t seem to mind it when I put her in the testing rooms alone. She just relaxes and waits.) last night, C-0 and B-0 curled up to each other, C-0’s body acting as a natural heat shield while B-0 produced heat. A-0 spent the night shivering in a corner. 

 

I am seriously considering only leaving two food rations at the next meal. Perhaps that would spurr one of the two into attacking the other… I can only hope. 

 

~~~

 

Log date 2-2-7-2xxx

Something disturbed me. C-0 and A-0 made it to the food first, long before B-0, but yet… C-0 shared her food with B-0, giving him more than she got. I suppose being skeletal and all she doesn’t require as much, but at the same time… It made me feel strange. Something feels wrong about their connections. They are only experiments… They do not have feelings! 

 

Do they?

 

~~~

 

Log date 2-2-7-2xxx/2 

 

Here’s an update for the books;

 

They do have feelings. Rather strong ones. Tonight, B-0 showed C-0 his soul, prompting C-0 to do the same. I am very, VERY, unhappy, especially with B-0’s weakened state. It angers me. 

 

~~~

 

Log date 2-2-8-2xxx

 

It finally peaked. A-0 challenged C-0 to a fight.

  
And the result was catastrophic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP THIS GOT EVIL FAST!!!
> 
> And compliments to my friends at @The Island RPG...
> 
> Mythic and Lizard! 
> 
> Official OTP is Lizic <3


	3. Film of Falses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL ABOARD THE BACKSTORY TRAIN
> 
> TO FEELIDELPHIA

With a fierce growl, the Child shot forward, swinging the knife at the creature’s chest.

 

If anything, this thing was quicker than Sans, dodging every attack milliseconds before it hit with catlike precision, barely even moving, expending as little energy as possible, to extend it to the next attack.

 

A blast of black magic that took a whopping 60 health from the Child.

 

With a gasp, the knife skittered across the ground as the Child collapsed on their hands and knees, liquid blue fear running through their veins.

 

“Never seen a black attack? Good. I like to keep my PREY guessing.” Came the mystifying purr from above them.

 

______________________________

 

C-... No, Chiller growled low in her throat, circling her opponent. A-0 ( _He didn’t deserve to be thought of as more._ She thought) growled also, his arms in a defensive position, reared onto his back legs, short tail twitching in anticipation. Hers was waving, carving a trail in the dust she had left there earlier. She hated dust, messy, dirty business that got in her claws. _An unnecessary part of death…_ She hissed, showing the long, snapping fangs to her adversary. She wondered momentarily what his soul would taste like.

 

A-0 howled, an angry, broken sound. She let out a low snarl in reply, preparing herself. As A-0 rushed at her, she pulled her head back and roared, filling the room with the brutal noise.

 

Behind the glass, Gaster flinched. She had never made anything above a growl before. A-0 stopped in his tracks, the roar reverberating with a single, predatory command; _DIE._ With that, Chiller shot forward, claws out in a searing rush. A-0 snapped at her, teeth scraping across her bones while her claws sank through his feathery scales and into his hide, prompting a bubble of blood to rise to the surface of the fur, warm and real and wonderfully stark on her white skin. It seemed like the only thing that was real in this room of whites and greys. Did A-0 even have the cognisance to realize that there had to be more? Had to?!

 

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. They were distracting her from the fight, from the blood, from the hunt. From the PREY. She growled again, shoving her back claws into his gut and throwing him off her with a huff. Red was dripping from both their bodies, not like they gave a damn, as A-0 shot forward again, going to tear a new hole in her face, when she finally, after much concentration and anger, located his soul.

 

 _About time._ She thought, a smirk playing on her jaw, before she pressed herself low to the ground and then came up underneath a shocked A-0, teeth driving into his throat and summoning a spray of crimson from under the crushing maw that now held a death grip on her assailant.

 

Gaster winced. The minute she had found that hold, A-0 was done for. It wasn’t even a trial anymore, as she lifted him cleanly off the ground and slammed him down, teeth digging for an even better purchase on his larynx, fully planning to tear it out, until his legs found her ribs and forced her off his neck, although she took a good chunk of skin and muscle with her, barely missing his jugular, despite what one might’ve thought so, looking at the amount of blood spread across the floor. Instead, A-0 charged at her with the force of a rogue train, to which she easily sidestepped, teeth finding their way to his spine instead. He let out a strangled roar of pain, which was steadily turning to whimpers of distress as the nerve cord was rent to pieces. B-0, cowering in the corner from absolute terror, gave a slight bark of abject fear, which caused Chiller to release her grip for the required second of freedom that A-0 needed to slip away while she sent comforting purrs in B-0’s direction.

 

What A-0 wasn’t expecting was the sudden, crushing weight that slammed into his chest and the now-familiar pain in his throat refresh, needles stabbing into his neck, through his trachea. He gasped, and Chiller felt the air whistle past the fangs sunk into his windpipe. She bit down again, planting a paw on his chest as she slid him across the sooty ground, back then forth. Blood left smeared streaks in the tile, torn chunks of scales and feathers coated in the sticky substance glued to the floor. Eventually, A-0’s struggles dimmed to weak twitches, and his raspy breathing twisted to a low pant.

 

“W-wait..!” A-0 tried to say, placing paws on her arms in plea, feeble attempts to get away making a rough sliding noise on the cement. Chiller suddenly rotated forward and down, and a loud snap permeated the air as A-0’s head made a clean 180 rotation. He dusted, blood flow from his wounds stopping in the small breeze of wind that always passed when a creature died. Left behind, a white soul, floating above the mound of powder.

 

Chiller’s head snapped up, and the soul was brought to the back of her teeth. A small shattering noise was made, and just like that, Subject A-0 was no more.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-3-0-2xxx

 

I am cursing myself for not seeing the problem sooner. B-0 is losing strength, and I only now recognized why. I have been ~~forci~~ giving determination into both of my remaining subjects, but I should’ve been more wary. C-0 is taking it well, refusing to scream when it’s injected, but B-0 cries and shouts and calls loudly for… I think for C-0.

 

Though I’m not sure.

 

She’s made a huge dent in my research, killing A-0 like that. At least she’s getting stronger.

 

B-0… I don’t know what to do. He’s weak, his body gets a little more melted every day, and he’s just a mess, mentally. He’ll dust soon. I wonder how C-0 will take that.

 

______________________________

 

She twisted around, going to make another long pace of the short room.

 

He, the other skeleton… *REDACTED*? Was that his name? She was so uncertain… Although he had heard him say something similar to that, or maybe Gaster? Was that it? Whatever. She continued to march cooly across the room. He had left ages ago, taking Betans with him. That was B-0’s name. Betans. It was pretty. For some unknown reason, Gaster had let Betans have a ‘minute of peace’ with Chiller. He had done that weird thing onto her shoulder where water came out of his eyes, then he was led away.

It had been three hours.

 

Something was wrong.

 

Then the door creaked open, and she rushed over to it, yipping at Gaster’s feet. _Where is he where is he where is he!!!_ She howled at him. Then he knelt down, placed a tied blue bundle of cloth in front of her…

 

And left.

 

Chiller stared at the bundle for the longest time. _This isn’t Betans! Bring him back!_ She yelped indignantly at the door, before slashing at the cloth bundle with a paw…

 

And dust spilled out.

 

She sat there, staring at it, uncomprehending. _Why would he bring me a dead thing?_ She thought. _Where’s Beta-_

 

Then it clicked.

 

Then she understood.

 

And she screamed.

 

She screamed and screamed and screamed until she had no more breath to use. And then she cried, letting the pain and blackness in her soul drag her down, feeling the dread in the back of her throat.

 

Outside, Gaster felt his sins crawling down his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look I completely destroyed whatever feels you had for these characters.
> 
> Have fun with that.
> 
> On another note, my friend rewrote the end of this chapter for fluff.
> 
> ~~~
> 
> Then the door creaked open, and she rushed over to it, yipping at Gaster’s feet. Where is he where is he where is he!!! She howled at him. Then he knelt down, placed B-0?!
> 
> Yep there was B-0 but he was weak and so close to dusting. C-0 was able to see B-0s soul health was at 1.
> 
> B-0 was trembling and shaking she looked so weak, and vulnerable it would be easy to snap her- no this was B-0 they were talking about he's a friend not PREY
> 
> C-0 slowly pushed B-0 to the corner of the room, then C-0 cuddled him. he was still shakeing so she tried purring at B-0 the shakeing wasn't so bad now but he was still shacking.
> 
> Gaster came in with some blankets ,water and, food then placed the items near B-0 and C-0. Leaving C-0 to keep B-0 from dusting.
> 
> C-0 slowly dragged the items over, she threw the blanket over him. Seeing that B-0 wouldn't be able to reply for a while she slowly wrapped herself around B-0 and they both fell asleep soon after that.


	4. The Gift (And the Lie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiller... Is given something, but is also told something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHOUTOUTS TO THE UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME idomyownthing AND Literalyjusttrash for being my BETA READERS!!! Idomyownthing also wrote the small torture scene in this chapter.

The Demon was screaming in their head. _Stand up! Don’t let her kill you! We can’t reset yet!_

 

The Child whimpered, feeling the weight of their sins pressing on their shoulders, fear and recognition flashing in their eyes as they saw the faces of everyone they had ever killed.

 

“‘Do you really hate me that much?’” The purr came from above them, sending their memories straight to the first monster they had ever met. The Child was biting back tears. “‘I still believe in you,’” The voice was cruelly taunting. “‘You can do better!’” She was openly mocking them. And it was working.

 

Tears streaked past their nose and down their cheeks as they remembered their faces. Everyone’s faces. “You like last words, PREY?”

 

“News flash;” A rough hand grabbed their chin and yanked it up so hard their teeth clacked together. The Child stared into the slitted purple eyes, cold with rage, that stared into her own. “You won’t get to hear my other brother’s.” She hissed.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-3-4-2xxx

C-0 refuses to even look at me. I believe she is angry at me for bringing B-0’s dust, although she should thank me for giving her his honour. Today, I managed to capture one of those slippery damn Magicks, by the top of my soul. It was interesting to see her fight a creature that was not only more magically adept than herself, but a creature that could fly as well. In the end, she got frustrated enough to use a blue attack, slamming it into the ground then tearing it to pieces. She has powerful magic, but hasn't learned to use or control it yet… So here we are. I need to teach her to use it, but I want it to be more substantial first.

 

Time to up the tests.

 

______________________________

 

Grabbing the vile of DT and a needle to inject it into her soul, Gaster walked over to her prone form, tied down firmly to the table. She was snarling and growling at Gaster, struggling in the restraints. Oh well, time to see how this goes.

~~~

He walked around the room, pulling out a bright red liquid in a vial. That gave off bad vibes, as he also grabbed a needle? He walked closer... Chiller didn't like where this is heading, growling at him to tell him to back off, but he didn't listen. She fought against the restraints but she couldn't break free. He puts the needle in the red liquid and pulls a lot out.

Feeling a tugging on her chest as he pulls her soul out she began to panic.

 

 _What is he doing? Why is the needle so close to my soul?! Oh god- it doesn't hurt? I'm... okay yeah._ He put in more slowly and… now it’s starting to hurt. Ow ow OW! Whimpering from the pain, she began to shake. _Why won't he stops it hurts!!_ It felts like being stabbed with a knife that's on fire and burning all over. Then it’s just gone, but it comes back. She got around 10 seconds break. _Oh thank god he's pulling the needle out... wait he's adding more?! Oh god no_ She couldn't take any more, please no more! She began to cry and shake.

 

“ _ **Stay still or it'll be more painful**_.” More pain? That's not possible! Besides, she couldn’t control it. The breaks were slowly getting closer together. She was terrified, pure raw terror. He was grinning widely and looked so happy at her pain, yet conflicted. He jabbed the needle in deeper. She howled, a blood curling scream that turned her throat raw. Fire was running through her veins, and it hurt. ” ** _tsk tsk C-0, you need to be a good girl now_**.” So she tried, because she was terrified of what would happen to her. The pain was burning through her body, getting to be too much for her, and her eyelids started to slip. Pain running a rough track through her body, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-3-5-2xxx

 

She’s not melting.

 

Promising.

 

The difficulty now is convincing her to obey me still. She seems to hold a rage against my face alone, growling at me when I walk into her room. When I’m not in the room, she paces, thinking about whatever she pleases… Though I believe she is plotting my murder, the glares she throws me through the _supposedly_ one way glass vengeful and deep. I… Bah! Whatever! I can’t be bothered to think of it. What I need to do now is focus. And ~~Chil~~ C-0’s wellbeing is not my concern, as long as she won’t dust soon. That’s all I need.

 

For now, we’re going hunting. Tomorrow. She has enough DT.

 

And a human will fall.

 

______________________________

 

Gaster led the blinded cat creature by her leash, the fabric across her eyes keeping her from being distracted by the scenery. The purple masonry made light clicking under his shoes and her paws, until the gurital growl of her speech purred up from behind him.

 

“ **_Where… we are?_ ** ” She snarled behind him, teeth showing through the muzzle, the small flashes of white flicking to allow her to speak.

 

“ **_Nowhere of concern, C-0_ **.” He replied to her.

 

“ **_Told you, name is Chiller._ ** ” She hissed. Her speech was still odd, mispronounced and incorrectly cadenced, but at the same time… It conveyed all her rage. Gaster humpfed, although that could’ve been a mistake, as her ears pricked in his direction, the air he had blown out allowing her to perfectly locate his body, for now she didn’t move to kill him, the DT still aching in her bones. Eventually, her leash pulled taught.

 

“ **_You are an experiment, you don’t have a name. Ah, we have perfect timing. They just fell._ ** ” Gaster leaned down, pulling off her blindfold. She winced, the light harsh and painful to her eyes. She shook her head, then focused on the human staggering to its feet on the bed of flowers, a twig in it’s hand. “ **_C-0...Kill._ ** ” Gaster commanded. She couldn’t help it, this was her natural prey. She dropped into a hunter’s crouch, creeping forward, tracking the human steadily. She knew her abilities, and wasn’t about to test their limits. Gradually, the distance melted away beneath her pawsteps, vanishing as she weaved within the forest of stone. She stepped easily over a fallen column and continued along, whipping past the bushes of cold, hardy woods… Gaining on the human’s small form.

 

Gaster ran as fast as he could to keep up with her, until she slowed down as the human did. The human looked around, frantically, clutching the stick to their chest…

 

And met Gaster’s eyes.

 

They jumped nearly a foot in the air, and started to flee, their chest heaving as they flew over the stones to make their escape, and Chiller took off after them, claws sinking into the pits of the masonry to gain a better purchase of movement, to no avail. Chiller was too young, and too slow to catch the human, as they rounded a corner. Chiller would have them now, they couldn-

 

“Howdy!” A fake-bright, happy, squeaking voice reached Chiller’s ears, sending her into immediate panic. She pulled up short, body writhing as she looked around, trying to identify it’s source.

 

“ **_C-0, that’s enough. Let’s head home._ ** ” Gaster’s voice radiated disappointment as he lay a hand on her small back, then the pair teleported back into her cage. Gaster took the collar off her and left, quietly closing the door behind him.

 

Within the room, Chiller sat conflicted.

 

 _A-0 stood up… The human stood up… Betans stood up… Gaster stands up… Why don’t I?_ She stared at her legs. Could they support her body? She reared up, to stand awkwardly for a few seconds before landing back down on her forepaws. _I’ll need to stand up… And my face… and what about my paws?_ She looked her paws, the thin claws that came easily out of them. Gradually, she came to the realization that she would need to look different. How could she do that? Was it… _Magic?_ She thought, and a purple mist began to cover her body, starting at her back legs. _What do I do… Just focus on… Standing?_ She thought, and made up her mind. The magic flowed over her pelvis, and a loud snap permeated the air. Used to the pain of the red liquid, Chiller didn’t move, watching in horrified curiosity as she directed her magic to make three more cracks, then she started to pull them apart. That hurt. She gasped in pain and shock as she frantically started to reconnect back in her normal pattern, but then she realized that she might never get this chance again. Slowly, the connections stopped, and disconnected again, gradually changing shape and stature, bringing her upper body above her back legs. The cracks resealed, and she took a few steps, almost falling over.

 

 _Ok, hands next!_ Encouraged by her success, she held her paws out in front of her, letting the purple magic flow over her limbs, shattering and reforming the skin over her phalanges, squinting her eyes in pain. But when she looked up again, she had fingers. Proper fingers. She flexed them pulling them in and out. They moved like her claws, dextrous and thin. She looked at the metal wall beside her. Her face was still extremely long, doglike… _This will hurt._ She thought, and the light of the mist flowed across her reflection.

 

Cracks appeared in her muzzle, and she hissed in shock and pain as her muzzle slammed back, bones folding over themselves and sealing as one whole, her face still protruded slightly, but her teeth were no longer pronounced and predatory, sticking slightly out of what could’ve been considered lips. She looked her reflection up and down in the one way window. She looked strange, like a cat on it’s back legs. She smiled, showing her fangs fully. She was… Pretty.

 

But something was missing.

 

What was it that Gaster wore? A… Cot? A cat? A coat? Yes! A coat! That’s what he wore. Do I need one to be a… What did he say on his ‘celly fone’? Monster? She looked her hands, then at her naked body. So she focused, on her magic, on making it into a shape. Purple flooded across her body, transparent and ethereal, forming slowly into a cloak around her body, not unlike a lab coat. _Gaster’s coat is white…_ She saw him in it every day. It didn’t take much for her to remember how it looked. _Mine needs to be a different color._ She thought. _Black. That was a good color._ And so she made it black, the color changing on the still-translucent coat with a breath of wind. She looked back at the split ends that drifted over her tail and onto the back of her legs.

 

They were so… Blank.

 

Her coat was just black. It was dull. She focused on making it a different color in some areas, like the pattern she had seen on some of the walls when she was hunting the human. _The… Four pointed shape. The three pointed shape there…_ When she was done, a rather pretty pattern in purple and red lay across her back, a large triangle of purple, endpoints extended slightly onto the tails of her coat. A second, red triangle lay underneath that one, far smaller. Inside the purple triangle, a red oval lay, almost egg-shaped, had Chiller known what an egg was. Near the top of the triangle, on either side, a pair of red circles. Had she been able to look at the back of the collar of her coat, she would’ve seen a purple four-pointed star. As it stood, though, she was satisfied with her cloak’s pattern, and she concentrated, closing her eyes and pouring magic into the shape to make it solid. A weight settled on her form, warmth enveloping her body as the serape took tangency with a small _fwump_ noise. She opened her eyes. The mantle was strong, even as her magic flow ebbed, and she ran a hand across the fabric. It was warm, soft… Beautiful. She loved that cape the minute she saw it. In the semi-darkness of the room, the purple on it seemed to glow a bit.

 

The door-lock clicked, and Chiller scampered over to greet Gaster at the door.

 

When Gaster had left the room, he went immediately to the storage room in the back. It contained all the strange and mysterious objects the scientist found in the dump. Recently, he found what he guessed was a musical instrument, still in a black fabric case, although he was unsure. Consulting some old human books he still had around told him that the instrument was probably a ukulele, although he was skeptical. The instrument was wooden, dyed blue, with some kind of gemstone inlays at certain areas, shaped like a surface animal. It was quite a sight, shimmery and beautiful. It was probably the exact right size for C-0. _Maybe this will keep her from going crazy until I can make her some siblings._ Gaster thought, grabbing the case and holding it delicately in his arms, carrying it to her door. He wanted to give her it before he left the labs for the night. Turning the lock, he entered the code and opened the containment unit.

 

To see C-0, standing on her back legs, a black, patterned cloak over her body that looked exactly like his own, except black with an imprint on it. Her face was changed, she had hands instead of paws… And her eyes were wide and curious.

 

She looked like a _child. This was a_ _CHILD_. Gaster took a slight step back, horrified.

 

“ **_A-am I… A monster?_ ** ” She said softly, looking at his face hopefully.

 

Gaster’s breath froze in his chest. When he finally got it back, he screamed. " **_YOU ARE NOT A MONSTER,_ ** ” Gaster shoved the oddly shaped black fabric object into her arms.  “ **_YOU WILL NEVER BE A MONSTER, YOU ARE AN EXPERIMENT_ ** ! " Gaster reached for the door in a panic. " **_AND IT IS TIME, FOR ME, TO GO!!!_ ** " He screamed, then whirled around, turning his back on the shocked creature, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes, as he slammed the door, eliminating most of the light from her room. As the door crashed closed, she snapped her head to the side, gritting her teeth as the purple liquid began to streak down her aching jaw.

 

Gaster teleported home as fast as he could, never even looking at the door.

 

Inside, Chiller walked numbly to the cot on the other side of the room, still clutching the case. She sat down on the edge of the bunk, rested her elbows on the hard edge of the case, and buried her face in her hands, letting the cold, numbing sadness collapse. She cried. Cried and cried and cried.

 

Finally, tired and drained yet unable to sleep, she pulled the object out of it’s case. It seemed to have little use to her, until she pulled on one of the strings on it.

 

It made a very pretty sound. She plucked it again, this time setting it properly against her body, placing down a few of her new fingers to make a different sound.

 

When Gaster came back the next morning, she was still awake, singing softly as the light above her brightened into reality. Her legs were crossed and folded to the side. She was singing.

 

 _She can think._ Gaster realized, and he whimpered. This could not end well.

 

(Author's note. Ive built the coat pattern for those who didn't get it.

 

[ http://ask-chiller.tumblr.com/ ](http://ask-chiller.tumblr.com/)Right there)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're officially on the road to Gaster's eventual cruelty.
> 
> Great.
> 
> WHAT IS THIS??!!?! OVER 10 KUDOS?!?!?! I SHOULD NOT BE THIS EXCITED BUT THANK U U AMAZING PEOPLE


	5. So Long, and Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster backstory.
> 
> Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP.
> 
> Ok so my original plan for this chapter was Chiller's interactions with the second and third humans. 
> 
> Conversation with my characters went like this.
> 
> Me: Ok guys, new day more human hunting. Chiller I need yo-
> 
> Gaster: I think this chapter should just be about me.
> 
> Me: but-
> 
> Gaster: ME

The Child’s hand slapped to the side, gripping the handle of the knife they could barely see through the mist of tears and swung blindly at the creature. Something stopped their hand, it landing firmly in something which brought it to a dead halt.

 

“Ah ah ah!!” She purred. “We’re not done yet!” The other hand, gripping the Child’s arm, suddenly wrenched back and a loud crack echoed. The Child screamed.

 

 _Get up! She just broke your elbow!_ The Demon yelled, not wanting to die yet.

 

“Welcome to my special hell, kid.” The creature snarled.

 

______________________________

 

Log date 2-5-

 

______________________________

 

Gaster’s hand froze. He couldn’t keep writing. He didn’t want to keep writing. He rested his head in his hands. He really, really didn’t want to think right now. He just wanted sleep. He had been up for 14 hours straight listening to C-0’s actually rather beautiful playing from her room. It made him feel tired.

 

He rested his head on the desk and closed his eyes. Maybe he could catch a peaceful moment for now...

 

~~~

 

Gaster had been the youngest in a nobody family of skeletons. His greatest fear was that he would die unknown.

 

So his greatest goal was to be somebody.

 

Gaster had never been a strong child in magic or body, but he had been in mind. He quickly rose to be the smartest of his class, then his school, then his town. He was most interested in physics and biology, with some chemistry. After many years of study and hard work, Gaster became the Royal scientist, and was tasked with creating something to break the Barrier.

 

It had taken him years to get to genetic experimentation.

 

At first it was just some random work on monsters and DT, but it soon grew into far, far more.

 

Death threats, dust and chaos were mixed in.

 

Now it got personal.

 

~~~

 

A figure stepped from the side room, bone white hands shaking. The white lab coat followed him with light flutters as he almost ran for the desk, more or less collapsing against it. His breath came in ragged pants, magic roiling in his gut, pain and fear crashing down on him in waves.

 

_His name was W. D. Gaster._

 

_He is a Skeleton._

 

_He is the Royal Scientist in a world of monsters trapped by humans._

 

_For the past year, he has been creating… things, weaponry to break the Barrier, the magical divider between humans and monsters._

 

_Now he was forced to question his work._

 

 _Is this right?_ He thought. _Is this ok?_ His head ached with the implications of what he had done, the torture, the violence, the death. He let out a long breath from his non-existent lungs, SOUL fluttering in his chest. _Why am I doing this? Is it really for monsterkind? Or is this for… me?_ His vision swam with his headache, a shrieking voice in his head screaming how wrong this was, how much better the world would be without him.

 

 _But… What happens if I don’t do this?_ He lifted his head, staring at the clock. The black hands ticked steadily on, ignoring the troubles of a mortal. His tribulations meant nothing to the endless flow of time.

 

Gaster pressed his phalanges to his face, allowing a brief moment of weakness. He felt empty, like his SOUL had fallen out of his chest and lay bleeding his magic into the cold, tiled ground.

 

“What… Why am I? ...Who am I?” He murmured, as if saying it out loud made it real, made the questions matter. The clock kept its steady ticking of seconds, counting down until the day he died.

 

“What if I… Switch directions?” He asked the dead air of his personal lab, voice echoing slightly in the hollow grey room.

 

One of the fluorescent lights flickered overhead, and Gaster turned his face toward it, enjoying the feeling of the light, the closest thing that came to the Sun’s lifegiving rays here in the Underground. Despite the artificial warmth, Gaster still felt cold in the marrow of his bones. He felt birdlike, hollow.

 

He missed the Sun.

 

 _It seems… So far away…_ He looked at his shaking hands, the small vibrations causing his wrist bones to grate against each other. “What should I do..?” He questioned, clasping his palms together to stop the shivering. Tired and lonely, he slid his hands up his arms, phalanges pulling slightly on the threads of his lab coat as they crossed on his chest with fingers on his shoulders, a comforting hug to himself. Gaster’s eyes closed. He didn’t want this moment to end. He was comfortable here. “Can I… Can I keep going?” He squeezed his hands, fingers sinking through the fabric and into the now-scrunched-up shoulders, tightening his hold on himself.

 

Then his hands let go, slumping to his sides. He was exhausted, done. Mentally and physically, he was finished. _What even was my purpose anymore? Do I even have one?_ He couldn’t help but wonder as he turned around again and opened his eyes. Suddenly, a glint caught in his eye and almost blinded him. Gaster turned toward it, and saw the fluorescent light glowing above his head.

 

 _No._ He gritted his teeth, hands balling into fists. _I can’t lose hope. I can’t lose sight of what I’m here to do._ Face set in a determined glare, Gaster walked to his desk and snatched a notepad from the table.

 

“Log date 1-1-4-2xxx.” He hissed as he wrote it down sloppily and viciously.

 

He had work to do.

 

~~~

 

Gaster’s head shot off the desk with a frightened scream. In C-0’s room, the distinctive slapping of a hand on strings sounded as she stopped playing.

 

Gaster stood up like he had been stung, breathing heavily and leaning against the desk, eyes wide and wild.

 

This wasn’t working.

He had to up the tests.

 

With jerky scrambles, Gaster shuffled through the syringes on his desk, eventually locating one filled with DT. He slapped his hand onto it, phalanges scraping as they wrapped around the glass. Gaster staggered down the hall, palm smacking against the scanner by C-0’s door. The scanner made a loud buzzing as it identified him, and then the door slid open. C-0 had already morphed, she was in her four legged, normal form.

 

“ **_C-0, come now._ ** ” Gaster said, a cross of fury and fear lacing his voice. She ran toward him, tail gracefully balancing her movement.

 

“ **_What’s wrong? What’s happening?_ ** ” she asked.

 

“ **_NONE OF YOUR CONCERN!_ ** ” Gaster shouted at her. She flinched back even as he grabbed her soul and yanked her toward the hallway. “ **_YOU ARE AN EXPERIMENT!!! NOTHING MORE!_ ** ” Gaster screamed, less at her and more at himself.

 

 ~~C-~~ no.

 

Chiller knew better than to object.

 

But she knew what she was.

 

And she was a monster.

  
That was her decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Shiet


	6. The Drumbeat Carries On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A timeskip chapter, because i'm a lazy butt that doesn't feel like typing out the next ten years of Chiller's life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Timeskip chapters are the death of me...
> 
> Fortunately I don't need to do another!
> 
> This chapter officially closes act 1.

The Child wanted to scream, body cold and pained, even though they were gritting their teeth hard enough to crack them.

 

“Hehehe… Oh, kid… You’re so dead.” The cat purred above him.

 

______________________________

  


Gaster put pen to paper. It was time to start the year-log.

### Year one;

+A, B and C of class 0 born

+Advances on DT experiments

+C has strong gains in power and ability

+Three more human bodies to experiment on

+Discovery of C being carnivorous!

 

-Subjects A and B deceased. A was dusted by C, and B melted.

-C has a defiant attitude

-She wants to be has delusions of being a monster

- ~~C cut ou~~ ~~my right ey~~ I have lost use of my right eye.

 

~~~

 

Chiller lay, pressed to the ground, fuming. The magic that Gaster had put on her soul to freeze her when she ran too far from him was holding her down as HER HUMAN got away!

 

The human fled around the corner, soul pounding in their chest as they bolted from the bone leopard that would’ve spelled their doom had she not had that STUPID SPELL!

 

_Don’t see the flower, don’t see the flower, don’t see the-_

 

“Howdy!”

 

_Damn it._

 

She gritted her teeth and hissed as that stupid biological-Determination mess of a flower went into the same old yarn he had a thousand times before, each time one of those… ‘resets’ happened. It was the same old sequence.

 

“You see that heart? That’s your SOUL, the culmination of your very being!” The disgustingly cheery voice sang out for the upteenth time. _God, how are you not dead yet?!_ Chiller asked him mentally, imagining how GREAT it would feel to crush the soft, smiling-like-an-asshole, cute face of that flower between her teeth. It’s a pretty good mental image. “Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV.” _Don’t you fu-_ Chiller began.

 

“What does LV stand for?” _Don’t you dar-_

 

“Why, LOVE, of course!”

 

She yanked at the magic holding her down so much she almost broke it. Growling with enough force to shatter the CORE, she waited, listening to that dumb flower spin the same damn story she had heard a thousand times before. Then the messy, sloppy, uncoordinated crunch of Gaster running toward her reached her ears, and the man himself burst through the underbrush. He saw her instantly, kneeling beside her prone body to release the magic.

 

Not the best idea he’d ever had.

 

The literal second she could, Chiller leapt off the ground, claws leaving white carve-marks on the purple stonework as her doglike jaw whipped open and crushed onto Gaster’s face, the bone-crushing mandibles scraping across his egg-like head, leaving small scratches. She didn’t have the strength to crush his skull, but she had the strength to hurt. Gaster shoved, forcing the maniacally clawing creature from his face, until one of her lower canines managed to grip into his right eye socket.

 

At the same second he shoved her up.

 

The loud cracking of bone and tearing of monster flesh rippled through the silent hallway. Gaster’s hands whipped to his face immediately, and, without even waiting for permission, he teleported both of them to the Lab, C-0 in her cage and himself to the nearest first aid kit, which actually wasn’t that close as he accidently teleported thirty floors up, to the public entrance lab. Gaster stumbled for the first aid kit before everything went dark.

 

When he woke up a day later, the nurse asked him what he last remembered. Gaster, wanting to hide his experiment from the world explained that he had just been attacked by something out of nowhere.

 

According to the scans, Gaster had been attacked by a Predatory Monster, a rare sub-type of monster that had enhanced and improved abilities and power. They were stronger, faster, better than most monsters, but at one disadvantage;

 

They needed fresh meat.

 

Well, not needed. They tended to be healthier with it. As well as being calmer while eating fresh meat, they also tended to be kinder and nicer. However, still being predators, they were more fierce and a little colder than most monsters, tending to be antisocial and loners as they sometimes held a bit of an… Instinct to attack and kill other monsters.

 

 _Well isn’t that interesting!_ Gaster thought as they wound a thick white bandage around the right side of his head and eye. _A predator. C-0 is a predator. No wonder she’s such a good hunter!_ Gaster would’ve laughed if it wouldn’t’ve hurt like all heck to even change his painfully blank expression.

 

For now, he lay back and closed his other eye. C-0’s predatory form could wait.

 

~~~

 

### Year 2;

+Class 1 created. Subjects D, E, F and G.

+More research on Subject C-0’s metabolism and carnivorous attitude

+Experimentation of C-0’s power and output

+Experimentation of semipermanent and inpermanent bodily functions of C-0 and E-1 and their ability to absorb Determination and it’s counterpart emotions

+C-0’s level gained to 8

+Death of a human. C-0’s first kill.

 

-Subjects D-1 and G-1 deceased

-Loss of a canister of DT

 

~~~

 

Gaster sighed, glancing through the one way glass at C-0, who was quietly limping across the room, her left front paw held delicately off the floor. In her attempt to kill the human, it had hit her shoulder blade with a rock, cracking the delicate bone. She hadn’t let Gaster touch her since the disasterous attempt with the third human, so surgery to fix it before the damage became permanent was out of the question…

 

Unless Gaster resorted to trickery.

 

This would need to be thought through with excessive care. _How to sneak a sleeping agent into her food just long enough to get her onto a table without her noticing…_ Gaster thought, pacing. He had almost worn the line of scuffs into a dip in the concrete he had paced so much. The still air seemed to walk with him, but then settle back into it’s hidden silence.

 

He liked this lab more and more every day.

 

Eventually, he made up his mind. Walking over to a thin grey table, Gaster began sorting through vials of different powders, hand eventually settling on a small white one. Phalanges clinking on the glass, he lifted it to his face, examining it as best he could with his one eye still covered in a patch. He’d be able to see out of it again, but for now it was best to let the scar heal, the four-inch crack that ran out of his eye and up his skull still stinging but he could still think through it. That was a plus.

 

Seeing that it was the correct powder, he went to the fridge where he used to just keep a copious amount of caffeine-filled drinks, but now also held packages of ground meats prepared from a special carnivorous butcher in the small northern town of Snowdin, a place that actually started, as research told, as a small band of predatory monsters that noticed how the hole at the top of the mountain let many creatures fall down. The deer, mice and nonsentient rabbits that made their home in Snowdin’s forests were a goldmine for the predatory monsters, the hunting settlement becoming a town that held a larger concentration of predators than the rest of the Underground combined. A young bird, the obvious apprentice to the far older, larger, tiger like cat in the butcher shop gave approximates of how much C-0 should eat at her weight and age, which were duly noted and taken with extreme caution.

 

Gaster didn’t like being in that shop. It made him rather nervous, which he would later discover as being a trait of all predatory monsters. All omnivores or herbivores had a strange fear and awkwardness around all carnivores past a certain age.

 

He pulled out a serving of deer meat, a particularly well-scented meat that would hopefully cover up the smell of drugs that Gaster rubbed within the food.

 

That was one other thing he hated.

 

The feel of flesh. An unnececarry part of death. He hated the way it got between the joints in his fingers and squished between the bones. Giving a small shiver of disgust, he washed off his hands, scrubbing like he wanted the bones themselves to come off. When he was finally done with the disgusting process, he walked to her door, black shoes clicking on while tile. Entering the code to her door, then scanning his hand, Gaster stepped inside the cold, dark room. She preferred it in the dark, she had told him. That was her one downfall, to Gaster. She was intelligent, now knowing exactly how to speak in both Wingdings and English, and preform complex equations. Gaster looked around, his eyelight shimmering in the semidarkness. The one way glass in the observatory had a light up display, allowing him to see in the darkness.

 

He had none of that now.

 

“ **_C-0!_ ** ” He called. “  **_Supper._ ** ” He set the bowl of meat on the ground. The small click of plastic meeting concrete flooring seemed echoey and frightening in the blackness of her room. That was, until a pair of purple slits appeared in the inky darkness, staring at him with an unspoken vengeance.

 

It now occurred to Gaster that he could’ve been nicer with the needlework last time.

 

The eyes stalked closer, casting a shadow of doubt and fear into Gaster's soul. He took a few steps back, out the door, then he closed it. The instant the metal door slammed shut, the scientist leaned against it and let out a long breath. When he felt a little better, he ran down the corridor, back to the observatory, and focused on her cell. She was watching the door, before she leaned down and started eating the food in the bowl, teeth easily snapping over the squishy mashed food. Soon, Gaster would start having to actually feed her steaks, not just an assorted mash. She snapped up the last of the food, licking her teeth, then she walked over to the cot, purring loudly.

 

 _How freaking high is this one’s drug tolerance?_ Gaster stared, gape-mouthed at her as she lay down on the cot. She yawned, flashing every one of her fangs, then she lay down and closed her eyes. _...Or maybe she just handles it differently._ He realized as she fell asleep. He had yet to have extensive experimentation on a predatory monster, so he didn’t exactly know how they handled drugs. Although, C-0 could take nearly triple what most monsters could, but that could be because of her semisolid form.

 

While most monsters were just dust, magic and a soul, C-0 was a little different. Her body was half a solid form. Once, a leopard had fallen, only to shatter it’s rib cage upon landing and die. Gaster used the remains of the skeleton to reconstruct C-0, which would allow for many different abilities to show up. _One of them might be drug resistance…_ Gaster thought even as he went to get her from the cage. She was limp and warm in his arms as he picked her up, although she winced when he moved the arm that was injured.

 

He didn’t have long as he rushed to the surgical room, C-0 in his arms. He lowered her onto the surgical bed, strapping her small, thin body into the leather bands.

 

She stirred with a confused rowl, head lifting off the bed to snap at Gaster, while he raced across the room preparing an anesthetic. The minute he approached her with a breathing mask, he noticed that something was going very, very wrong. Purple smoke was leaking from her rib cage as she lifted her head, purple eyes wide and wild as they blazed with furious magic, mist streaming from between her teeth as the snake-like jaw parted, a ball of light conjuring in the back of her throat. It charged, glowing white-hot, and Gaster realized instantly what she was about to do.

 

He hit the deck, flattening to the floor as a laser-beam of white magic lanced over his head and into the wall, smashing multiple of the instruments. The beam whipped around and streaked across the wall, then cut off, followed by a brutally angry roar as C-0 announced her failure loudly to him.

 

Quickly, and hoping that she wasn’t doing it again, Gaster shot to his feet, slapping the mask over her face. She held her breath, whipping her head furiously and scratching furtively at her restraints, claws scraping the metal below them in an attempt to reach the leather above them. She finally opened her mouth and took a small breath, barely keeping conscious from lack of oxygen, but she hung on, biting and clawing and snapping at the mask, until her struggles became less and less, eyes glazing and expression unfocused and indistinct, movements slowing until her head collapsed onto the sterile table, eye lights flickering once before deactivating and her eyelids sliding shut.

 

Gaster let out a long breath, and looked over the damage. Along the east wall, a 6 foot burn mark arched across the grey inlay, it’s ‘s’ curve accentuated by a sharp zig-zag in it’s middle. Just the fact alone that she made that with very little effort was a compliment to what Gaster had created.

 

 _By Asgore..._ He thought as he scrubbed for surgery. _What have I gotten into?_

 

~~~

 

### Year 3;

+Class 2 created. Subjects H and I.

+Advances to Semipermanent body studies

+C-0 gained to level 17

+I can see again!

+Two more humans killed

 

-Class 1 entirely deceased, C-0 killed them all.

-C-0’s strength is turning to disobedience and fury

 

~~~

 

The year had been fairly uneventful, Chiller knew that.

 

She liked it like that.

 

She walked around the room quietly, new, secondary horns twitching, the inch-long spikes barely able to hear anything but they certainly provided a much-needed second input. Her muzzle itched. Made sense, she was growing strangely. Her face was becoming a more… ‘Alligator-like shape.’ As Gaster had put it. It was bulging out a little, lower teeth sticking up from the back of her jaw. She hated this, hoped she wasn’t stuck like this forever. This was uncomfortable and improper. This wasn’t streamlined or calculating, this was raw power and crushing force, neither of which were an appropriate way to kill.

 

 _Gaster and growth spurts can both go to Hell._ She thought, laying her head on the ground.

 

~~~

 

### Year 4;

+C-0 gained a second set of ears.

+Class 3, 4 and 5 created. J, K and L

+C-0 gained to level 24.

+2 humans killed

 

-Class 2 deceased. C-0 again.

 

~~~

 

### Year 5;

+1 human.

+Class 6, 7 and 8 created.

 

-Class 3, 4 and 5 deceased.

 

Notes: I’m tired of writing these.

 

~~~

 

### Year 6 and 7;

+1 human that she toyed with. Entertaining to watch.

+Class 9 created

 

-Class 6, 7 and… Most of 8 deceased. Only subject S was left alive.

 

Notes; I hate this so much.

 

~~~

 

### Year 8, 9;

+class 10.

 

-Class 9 deceased.

 

~~~

 

### Year 10;

+Class 11.

 

-Class 10 deceased.

 

~~~

 

### Year 11;

+Class 12

 

-Class 11 deceased.

 

Notes; I’ve made a horrible mistake, and I can't get rid of it.

 

She’s here to stay.

 

~~~

 

Chiller blinked awake to the now-familiar cries of the small skeleton child and his brother she had left alive. There was something about him, something familiar…

 

Something safe.

 

Deep, deep deep in her now-half-black soul, she knew what she had to do.

 

She had to protect them at all costs.

 

Even her life.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> *Tags sans and papyrus*
> 
> ...
> 
> *they don't show up until chapter 6.*
> 
> ...WELP


	7. Lost Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiller and Papyrus meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS AWAY ALL WEEKEND AND NEARLY 4 CHAPTERS CAME OUT OF IT.
> 
> You've already seen 6...
> 
> HERE'S 7!

So the fight raged, the Child slashing furtively at the creature, who sidestepped her every attack, purring as she went. 

 

The ease with which she swirled about the room, gliding and dipping gracefully, tail swishing across the gilded hall suggested a deeper understanding of prediction and precision… Maybe a deeper understanding of the Child themself. 

 

They swung a sideways shot, glancing toward her face.

 

An arm came up, blocking the Child's blow, shoving them away, as a foot came up and slammed into their chest, paw-pad spreading to maximize surface area. Bones crunched slightly as the Child's ribs cracked, just on the sides a bit.

 

Landing on the floor, the Child coughed, spitting up bloody phlegm to the golden floor, the Demon screeching into their head.

 

_ Get up get up get up!!! _

 

“Well, I've had my fun.” The creature purred. 

 

“DIE.” It snarled, and a bone shot through their heart.

 

______________________________

 

P-12 walked around the room, pacing steadily as the small green fabric gown caught slightly upon his bones. He tapped his fingers against the back of his hand furiously, fear and anxiety consuming him.

 

He could hear his brother.

 

He could hear him screaming.

 

Down the hall, pained shrieks echoed, filling every thought P-12 had. 

 

He hated this. He wanted to just stop the screaming. 

 

This had happened for many days, where the Scientist came and took San- oh wait, he wasn't supposed to call him that. S-8 was taken and then experimented on, howls reverberating around the lab.

 

Tortured was a better word for what the Scientist did.

 

Today though, a new sound sang across the wall. 

 

In the little containment unit S-8 and P-12 were held, two windows crossed the walls. 

 

One window was a vision for the Scientist to watch the pair of them. The other, a mystery, just like the marks on the floor. Three marks, that looked a little like the scratches that he and San- nope, wait, S-8 made when they were in their other forms. When they ran, marks similar to those might show up. But these marks were deeper and wider, slightly less grouped and neat, like whoever or whatever made them was struggling against something.

 

Carefully, the young skeleton approached the wall, where the new sound was coming from.

 

The wall with the mysterious window.

 

Leaning against it and pressing the side of his head to the tiles, Pap- Whoops, P-12 listened carefully with baited breath, hoping that the new, rather beautiful noise wasn’t just his imagination running away from him again.

 

Silence from the wall. For a minute, he feared that he had only imagined it…

 

But then his patience was rewarded as a beautifully cool singing drifted through the window, the glass seeming to vibrate a little with the words. There was also the slight pulse of a… Something that didn’t sound like a voice, rather, the plucking of those little metal wires that sometimes tripped him in the mazes. These noises though changed, shifting with the voice, clearly female, as her voice changed. When she moved up in the song, so did the noises. It was beautiful, a song of freedom and happiness.

 

Papyrus could’ve kept listening forever.

 

Then suddenly, the song just stopped, and a low sigh sounded through the glass. Pulling onto the tips of his toes, P-12 looked through the glass. Even in the darkness of the opposite room and the smoky glass, he could see a shadow. It was huge, compared to him or his brother. It moved similar to how he and Sa-, S-8 moved in their other forms, but her movements were far more… Graceful, like she knew how to move like a liquid. The shadow drifted across the room, head long and angular, again like his other form. 

 

_ Wh… What is she? _ P-12 stared at her.

 

In his curiosity, he reached up, and knocked on the glass.

 

~~~

 

Chiller lay the ukulele by her side and shifted, four steady paws shifting underneath her to lift her off the cot and onto the floor. 

 

This new room didn’t feel like home. 

 

One day, Gaster just walked in, grabbed her now-black soul and dragged her to this new room, locked her in with her ukulele and didn’t come back. 

 

She didn’t care, not much mattered anymore. 

 

She didn’t have a purpose. Humans had stopped falling, and her drive to hunt had diminished. 

 

Although, the food she got daily renewed her fight. 

 

The taste of meat in her teeth, the way it squished between her canines, fangs sinking into flesh. 

 

The only thing remaining that felt real. 

 

Walking across the room, Chiller sat beside her ukulele, which was a little odd-looking to her at this height. Unzipping the front pocket, she pulled something out, a small, tied blue cloth that had a sewn black line across the one side of it. She held it for a second, then touched her nose to it.

 

After another careful glance at it, she placed it back within the pouch. 

 

Stalking back across the room, Chiller kept her ears low. She hurt inside, only able to feel half of any emotion, the Black Determination that now was half her soul preventing that. A sliver of light caught in her eyes, and for a second she could see the glint of a star-stone in the concrete.

 

She wanted to look deeper, to stare at it and wish on it to be free. 

 

But it wasn’t a star.

 

Soul heavy and head aching, she turned away, making her way back to the cot.  _ Back to sleep I guess… _

 

_ Ting ting ting! _ The sound rang across the room, and Chiller’s head shot up. Her instincts flared to life, as if they never vanished, never settled into sleepy compliance. Her eyes narrowed, ears flattened, as she stared at the glass. Whatever had knocked had her full attention now. 

 

A shadow stood at the other side of the glass. It was relatively short, but looked like a child. 

 

_ Is that… P-12?  _ She thought.  _ Did they get moved into my room? The brothers? The ones… I couldn’t kill. _ She tilted her head, then walked toward the glass, morphing to her upright as she went. Before long, she stood in front of the glass, and could clearly see the shadow. It was P-12, or so she thought. She now knew why she couldn’t kill them. They were her brothers. 

 

When Gaster had created her, he used some of his own DNA. 

 

He did the same for these two. 

 

These were her siblings. 

 

But they didn’t know that.

 

They only knew each other.

 

He had the cutest smile on his tiny, skeleton face. It showed unspeakable concern for someone he had never met. 

 

“...Hey.” She purred out. “I’m… Chiller. What’s your name?”

 

“HI!” The child practically yelled. “I’m P-12!” He smiled at her.

 

She tilted her head.  _ No it’s not.  _ “What’s your real name?”

 

“...P-12…” He looked away.

 

“Not that name. The other one. The one that actually sounds like a normal name?” She glared at him.  _ What has Gaster done to this kid? _

 

“...I’m not a person though.” The kid rubbed his arm self-consciously.

 

_ Oh. _

 

_ Oh. _

 

_...Gaster you douchebag.  _ She gritted her teeth. “Yes you are. Just like I’m a person. We’re both people.” She tried to keep her voice level. “Don’t let Gaster tell you otherwise.”

 

“He doesn’t like it when you say his name.” 

 

“He can’t stop me.” She purred. “So what is your name?”

 

“........Papyrus.” The babybones replied. “My name is Papyrus.” 

 

“Hm. Good to meet you Papyrus.” She rowled. 

 

“...Are you lonely?” He asked.

 

“W-what?” Chiller coughed out, a little in shock.

 

“Are you lonely?”

 

“N-...” She paused, then sighed. “Yeah, a little.” 

 

“Does the Scientist never visit you?” Papyrus looked honestly curious, combined with a slight amount of concern. 

 

“...Not anymore.” Chiller glanced away. This was getting awkward, and she started to turn around.  _ Maybe I can go practice ukulele again.  _ She thought. She needed to get away.

 

“W-wait!” Papyrus called out, and slapped a hand against the glass. Gently, she turned back around, and reached a looked at him. “...I promise that you’ll never be lonely.” He smiled to her. She simply stared. 

 

Slowly, she reached forward, hand stretching outward until it gently pressed against his through the glass.

 

They remained that way for several minutes, during which Chiller made another promise.

 

_ I will protect you. _ She thought, to both of the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this moment, Gaster knew
> 
> He fucked up


	8. Show Me How To Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster fucks up, Chiller and the boys meet face to face, and shit goes to hell.
> 
> Oh and Chiller calls Gaster a cowardice laced maggot shit. 
> 
> You have been warned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go

…

 

______________________________

 

Chiller wasn’t talking to him at that moment. She was probably asleep. 

 

Papyrus stepped away from the window, and pulled a bit at his ‘hospital gown’, as Chiller had called it. Papyrus had been talking to her for almost two ‘weeks’ now. She knew more than anyone, probably even more than the Scientist.

 

That was also one other thing he was concerned about. 

 

She held no fear of repercussions for using his name and the like, talking to Papyrus about what happens in ‘testing’ and what’s happening to S-... Sans. That was his name after all. She seemed to know the inner workings of the ‘laboratory’, how to navigate the ‘Cognitive Measure Tests’... She knew more about the Scientist than Papyrus figured the tall skeleton knew about himself. 

 

Just then, the door opened, and the Scientist, in his long white lab coat that looked a disturbing lot similar to Chiller’s coat, pushed an exhausted-looking Sans inside. 

 

His brother stumbled, eyes dim and glazed, as he was shoved within the room. 

 

Wordlessly, Papyrus ran forward and held tightly to Sans to act as a support, while his older, thicker brother leaned against him. Sans’s breathing was odd and heavy, like he was panting. 

 

The door slammed shut. 

 

“...Are you alright, Sans?” Papyrus asked quietly.

 

“Nnngh...I’ll… I’ll live, bro.” Sans whimpered, as the pair limped toward the bed. The minute they were up on the ‘cot’, Sans looked like he might fall asleep at any moment, but Papyrus was perfectly awake. 

 

Suddenly, a door behind the glass where Chiller was smashed open.

 

“C-0, come.” The Scientist said in a cold, clear voice.

 

“Why?” The hissed reply came. Papyrus had heard her voice when she was in her cat form. It sounded a little more purred than her upright form, an underlying growl lacing the words. 

 

“I don’t need to explain that to you,  **experiment.** ” The Scientist snarled.

 

“Oh yeah? And what if I say ‘no’?” A fierce snarky growl emphasized this. 

 

“You will come with me right now, Experiment C-0!” 

 

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” The resulting roar echoed across the wall, sending Sans to snatch up Papyrus and hide on the corner where the walls and bed met, all prior exhaustion forgotten in favor of protecting his sibling.

 

A loud crash cleared the glass, as it lit up with a blast that arched across the wall. 

 

Sans recognized that noise, the noise of his and Papyrus’s alternate forms releasing a blast of magic, although neither of them could hold a blast that long. The noise continued for what seemed like ages, the laser-beam of light whipping across the room. The light shone through the glass, revealing the shadows of a tall skeleton, bones, a massive hand and a four-pawed animal with a long tail. The cracking of smashing concrete echoed and a rippling growl followed as teeth clacked together. The Scientist grunted in exertion.

 

“YOU SICK BASTARD PUT ME DOWN!!!” The roar again. Normally, her voice was calm and welcomed, but she now seemed terrifying and predatory. 

 

“When you learn respect I’ll put you down!” The Scientist replied.

 

“Says the guy who tortures children!” The sound of paws hitting floor, then claws on inlay. Another smash, coming from the hallway, claws on fabric, the ping of a soul turning blue… 

 

And the boys’ door opened.

 

The Scientist, a tear in the side of his coat 3 feet long and light claw scratches on his face, whipped his left hand, glowing blue, and tossed a soul into their room. 

 

A massive bone cheetah attached to the soul skidded, claws flashing out of the bone sheaths on its lower limbs, sinking into the tiles to regain control over her body, as the Scientist released her soul. She shot forward, no hesitations, as the door slammed shut. She rammed into it, clang resounding about the room. 

 

“GASTER YOU DUMB FUCK GET YOUR TINY BONE BUTT THE HELL BACK HERE!!! WE’RE NOT FINISHED YET ASSHOLE!!!” She screamed through the door, neon purple eyes glowing in the blackness of her sockets. “YOU LITTLE COWARDICE-LACED MAGGOT SHIT!” She roared. 

 

Sans wondered what half those words meant, and why they seemed to be bad. 

 

The cheetah stood, panting, then lifted her right back paw off the ground. A long crack laced the uppermost bone, and she seemed in a slight amount of pain. 

 

“...C-Ch-Chiller?” Papyrus finally managed to whimper out. 

 

The horns on the back of the cheetah’s head lifted, and the doglike head whipped around, purple, slitted eyes widening in surprise. 

 

“....Papyrus?” The cheetah asked, clearly shocked, and Sans took the chance. 

 

Sans jumped in front of Papyrus and shifted. 

 

Bones jellified and melted, molding steadily into something else, Sans’ face extending and strengthening, molding and fitting to new teeth, sharp and long, as holes opened in the top of his head and bottom of his jaw. Horns erupted from his head, arching backward into a long sweeping crown, body extending into an almost puppyish body, tail extending to catlike proportions. 

 

Sans growled, trying to intimidate her.  _ Stay away from my brother! _ He thought, trying to press that thought into every line of his scarred and battered body. 

 

He hadn’t realized how much she’d been crouching. 

 

Slowly, her body arched into the air, shifting upright as she pulled up to her full height. 

 

Sans stepped back.

 

She was easily three feet tall, body curved and long, as she stared down at him. The fangs that showed through her jaw were no milk teeth, the edges sharp as knives. Her long muzzle was angular and sharp, perfectly thin, no baby fat to be seen. Sans’ jaw opened in shock, staring in amazement. 

 

“....Papyrus, you know her?” He asked, taking another step toward his brother. 

 

“Y-yes Sans. Don’t hurt her! That’s Chiller, the person I told you about. The one across the wall.”

 

Up until now, Sans had thought that Papyrus’ stories of a person on the other side of that wall that talked to him had been his younger sibling’s imagination running away again, but now those stories had a real figure and a person.

 

_ Am I going crazy? _ Sans thought, looking her up and down. She was probably 7 feet long, tip to tail, whereas Sans’ 4 feet and 1 to the shoulder was just pathetic. It probably was entertaining to see him attempt to intimidate her, as well as hopeless.

 

“And that makes you Sans, correct?” She purred toward him. 

 

“...Yeah. I’m Sans.” He answered.  _ If Papyrus trusts her, I don’t suppose she can be all bad.  _ He thought. 

 

“What happened there, Chiller?” Papyrus got off the bed to see her. 

 

“Well, Gaster’s ten levels of coward. Won’t even die like one.” She snarled, eyes narrowing.

 

“He doesn’t like it when you use his name.” Sans piped up.

 

She stopped. “...Sans, you heard what just happened right? I just fought your demon. And I made it out with a minor injury. You see Sans, he’s not immortal. He can be beaten.” She purred. 

 

Sans’ breath caught. He hadn’t thought of this. There was someone who could beat him. Not someone, him! He could beat the Scie- 

 

_ Gaster.  _ Sans thought. It felt like he was breaking a sacred law that was keeping him prisoner.  _ He isn’t a god. He has a name. And that name is Gaster.  _ The look of shock on Sans’ face must’ve changed, since she smirked and gave a low purr.

 

“...What do you two want?” She purred to them.

 

“..........To make sure the Sci- Gaster.” Sans cut in on himself. “To make sure Gaster can never hurt us again.” 

 

She growled. “Me too.” 

 

______________________________

 

Sans leapt to one side, narrowly avoiding the slash that came for his face. Four paws back on the ground, he shot forward with a bark, aiming for his assailant’s face, for them to sweep to the side and duck under his paw.

 

“Good work Sans, keep your stance better held!” A call rang out from the sidelines.

 

The smaller bone dog swept a back paw under Sans’ legs, who jumped straight into the air and landed back on the floor, as the younger creature reared up, tail sweeping the front paws from underneath Sans as feet flipped the pair of them over, younger creature landing on Sans, paws on his ribs.

 

“Cut.” The voice sliced through the two creatures like an axe-chop and they fell apart, laying on the floor.

 

“Nyehehe! I win this round, brother!” Papyrus crowed, body arching into a downward dog position, tail wagging furiously. 

 

“That you do bro. That was a dirty trick, the tail thing.” Sans shook himself out, pride hurt more than he was. 

 

“You need to be ready for everything, Sans.” Their observer stepped forward, long body shifting and waving with her walking. “That’s how Papyrus, who is half your size, was able to beat you. He was fully ready in case you did that. Up until now, you’ve won on that movement. You need to stop sticking to one strategy.” Chiller purred to him. “Vary yourself. One day, you’re going to be stuck without your weight advantage, and where will you be then?”

 

Sans glanced away.  _ Dusted. That’s where I’d be.  _

 

“Other than that, your technique is impeccable. It’s taken you only a day to get that new swipe down.” She patted his head with a paw, and he purred loudly. “As for you, Papy… You are innovative, powerful and you hit like a tank. However, you are missing technique, and that makes it both hard and easy to beat you. Hard, because you’re unpredictable, easy because you have no form. A combination of these two worlds could be spectacular on you.” Papyrus looked scorned, then he perked up. 

 

“I’ll keep working at it!” He barked happily. 

 

“You got anything new for me?” Sans stepped forward, eager to see a new movement. He loved watching Chiller move.

 

“Well, there’s only one way to tell that.” She snarled playfully. “Knock me down.” Sans settled into his haunches, wiggling his butt. “If you can.” Chiller laughed slightly, settling into her own crouch. 

 

_ Back to the grind! _ Sans thought as he sprung forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...welp


	9. The Hardest Part Of This Is Leaving You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Vash the Stampede for the song...

…?

 

_____________________________

 

It had been three months since Chiller was thrown into their room. 

 

Sans lay whimpering and crying on the surgical table as Papyrus banged on the glass, Chiller’s eyes glowing behind him.

 

When Sans was finally tossed back into the room, he curled into a fetal position and cried more as Papyrus hugged him gently, whispering softly how he’d be fine. 

 

“...We need to get out.” Chiller’s voice, cold as her name, stated. A fact that was impossible to ignore. 

 

“H-how?” Papyrus asked.

 

“Easy.” Sans snarled below him, unfolding his stout limbs from his brother’s body. “We blast down the door and walk out.”

 

“Th-” Chiller began. “That’s actually not a bad idea.” She murmured reflectively.

 

“...Wait seriously?” Sans said in a monotone of shock. 

 

“Yeah. We just need to put enough force on this door and ‘pop’. Like a balloon.” She looked the metal door up and down.

 

“...Chiller?” Papyrus broke through their reflection. 

 

“Yeah Paps?” 

 

“....What’s a balloon?” He asked. Chiller sighed. Oh, she had so much to show these boys once they were free. 

 

______________________________

 

First thing was making sure they could survive outside. Unlike herself, they had little to no knowledge of survival outside of these walls. She would need to teach them to hunt (as it turns out, the boy’s dog forms could eat meat as well as monster food. That made things a little easier for her.), to identify safe water, which they had never seen in excess, she guessed. Gaster only taught her to swim to make her hunting easier. They would need to learn to scavenge, to be stealthy… But they needed out now. As soon as possible. 

 

Second was how to blast down the door. 

 

The three were conserving and building magic, which they planned to transfer to Chiller, who had the stamina to keep the blast going long enough to shatter the lock on the door. 

 

Third was how to get past Gaster. 

 

This was the tricky part. 

 

“Improvise. We can’t know. He’s not the best fighter, and he has no training. Make do with what you’ve got, boys.”

 

So it began.

 

______________________________

 

“You guys ready?” Chiller asked, sinking claws through the concrete between the tiles to give herself a better stance against the backfire of the blast.

 

“Go for it!” Papyrus barked, already shifted for when they ran.

 

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Sans growled, also shifted.

 

“Sassy, Sans. I approve.” She purred. Then her mouth opened to disturbing proportions, and the beam started charging in the back of her throat, ball of neon purple light gathering and whirling into a sphere at her command, growing until it was the size of Papyrus’ fist. She was compressing it to be more powerful on the release, and it was already taking all of her concentration to hold onto it as it grew to the size of her fist, and Sans took it to step two, draining the magic he had charged into her, leaving him with a slight weakness buzzing in his bones as light blue magic jumped into her body. The ball of light doubled in size. 

 

Papyrus transferred his next, orange sparks jumping from his soul into his sister’s, and the ball grew again, increasing and the loud wrrr growing. This was about to get sloppy.

 

______________________________

 

Gaster walked down the hall, eyes concentrated on his notepad. His fingers easily wiggled out lines of notes, pencil scratching across the paper, lead spreading across the page, grey dust scattering along the compressed cork board. Then something caught his ear, a low humming… That was gradually growing in pitch and volume, the noise sounding like charging magic. Gaster cocked his head, and slowly walked back toward the noise, eventually standing before the room where the boys and Chiller were. 

 

_ What is that… _ he thought, standing directly in front of the door, not realizing the danger he was in, until the last second, when he recognized the sound. 

 

Gaster dove for the left, landing on the floor as air pressure seemed to increase, oxygen being stolen from his mouth and the air around him, as a deafening  **_whump_ ** filled the area around him. 

 

Blinding light flashed from behind him, filling the room with strange and disturbing shadows as a roaring filled the room around him, as the ear-shattering crash of metal hitting metal sounded like a gong about the hall. Slowly, Gaster sat up and turned around, to see a cloud of smoke and steam flowing out of the broken doorway, and four eyes stared back at him, glow cutting through the smog. One blue, glaring with a rage and vengeance, one orange, frightened and curious, and two neon purple slits, shining with a cold intensity, one that promised a swift and terrible end. They watched him with a potency that mimicked his own, ghostly colors flaring on their faces, lights floating in the mist. 

 

Gaster swallowed. This was going to be rough.

 

______________________________

 

Chiller braced herself and let it rip, the magic blasting from her jaw and into the door, punching it back like a cardboard cutout. Sans was the first to leave, Papy jumping onto Chiller’s back as the trio walked free for the first time ever. Sans growled, left eye flaring into glowing fruition, magic spilling behind his head. Papyrus’ right eye began glowing orange, and Chiller’s eyes brightened as the three focused on their tormentor. 

 

Gaster lay, sat firmly on his butt, staring at the three. They glared back.

 

Papyrus slid off Chiller’s back, sensing what was about to happen, while Gaster stood up, and the elder siblings set a stance, one of ferocity and power, staring back at the face of oppression. 

 

Gaster took a step forward, and that was all that was required. 

 

Chiller and Sans shot forward, claws driving into the tile as Gaster summoned white bones in complex patterns, blasting them for his creations. Chiller danced over them, paws barely making a noise on the cold tile, while Sans simply teleported around, then leapt up to sink vicious jaws into Gaster’s arm, disrupting his pattern. 

 

“Sans! MOVE!” came a cry, and without hesitation, Sans dropped to the floor, as Chiller slammed Gaster with her forepaws, throwing him into a closet, then slamming the door. The instant that was done, she melted the hinges shut. “Boys, come on.” She growled, then ran over and picked up Papyrus, throwing him onto her back. “We need to go.” With a snarl, Chiller ran down the halls, for the staircase. Muscle memory lead her here, her body remembering from when she hunted humans.

 

“This way!” She hissed, diving down a side staircase, hoping that it lead upward.

 

______________________________

 

Gaster pressed against the sealed door with all his strength, hearing his phone take a message outside of the room. 

 

“Hey, Wingdingus… There’s ahh… some alerts going off in the lower labs.” The voice of Reno, Gaster’s only friend and fellow scientist. “Just so you know. Be careful, ok?”

 

A few moments later, another call came through. “Hey umm… The alerts went off here too. Something about a dangerous monster? It’s ok though. But answer your phone, kay?”

 

Gaster pushed harder, using multiple bones to brace the wall and door. 

 

Minutes later, another call. “Gaster, this isn’t funny anymore. This monster’s on level four…” Reno’s voice hissed, frantic. “Answer your phone!”

 

Gaster shouted in exertion, slamming against the door with bones. 

 

“Gaster!” The call rang in, Reno’s normally upbeat and excited voice now a frantic whisper. “They’re in the hallway next to me! Please answer your phone…” The bird monster begged. “I need to know you’re not dead.” A sharp intake of breath on the line. “Gaster… they’re down the hall.” Reno whispered. 

 

Suddenly, a voice, cold, cruel and female, began singing. "Total slaughter, total slaughter…” Gaster froze.  _ No no no…  _ “I won't leave a single man alive…”  _ No please not Reno!  _ “La de da de dide...genocide…”  _ No God! Please! No! Not Reno!  _ “La de da de dud...an ocean of blood…”  _ No no NO STOP PLEASE!!!  _ “Let's begin the killing time.”

 

“Gaster…” Reno whimpered. “It’s  _ singing. _ ” Pawsteps echoed throughout the song.  _ C-0!!!! No, CHILLER STOP!!!!  _ Gaster willed with all his heart. “Gaster, help…” Reno mewled, voice filled with panic and fear. “It’s got purple eyes Gaster…” Reno whispered in panic. 

 

“CHILLER NO STOP!!!!!!” Gaster howled at the same time Reno shrieked, and the crack of a soul could be heard. Gaster gave one final slam against the door, and the frame shattered, crashing to the floor thunderously, and the tall skeleton stood, panting, before the phone, screen cracked across the center in an impact ark. The screen flickered, then shut down.

 

“R-Reno…” Gaster whimpered. Oh, those kids were DEAD!!!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DREW A THING
> 
> http://spyrofury767.deviantart.com/art/ESCAPE-610326571


	10. Megalotrousle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epic fightz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot chapter 10!!!
> 
> Sorry its short, I hated this one.

…..?!  _ Wha- _

 

______________________________

 

Gaster walked through the halls, hands ablaze with green magic, eyes flaring with them, lime flames streaking from his eyes, tears streaming down his face, face in an enraged snarl.

 

He had a bodycount to meet.

 

______________________________

 

Chiller and the boys hid in a back room, watching feet pad by in evacuation. She now guessed that maybe letting off that blast through the floor was not the best idea she ever had.

 

After enough feet had passed and the flow stemmed, Chiller stepped out, Papy no longer riding on her back, into the cold hallway. The grey stone, now a little less cold due to the fact that they were closer to the surface, was firm under their feet. 

 

Freedom was at hand, and it was time to claim it.

 

“Boys, this way!” Chiller purred in her customary growl. Sans and Papyrus turned the corner with her, eyes still glowing, as they checked the hallway for danger. They had made it five feet down the hall when one of the walls exploded in a violent green blast, throwing concrete across the pathway. All three pulled up short, Chiller hissing like an angry steam kettle, as Gaster, body ablaze with green magic, erupted from the shattered wall, looking like some green-fire-skeleton elemental, hellfire pouring off his body, coat almost burned up. 

  
“Sans, Papyrus…” Chiller growled. “Back up. Slowly.” She hissed, so low it was almost a rumble. All three took careful steps backward, until Chiller grabbed them all with purple magic and threw them into another room, an office, that was pitch-black. Gaster, with an angry roar, ran in after them.

 

They were gone, but not really. Only to Gaster’s sight. On one side of the door, Papyrus lay, flattened to the tile, and on the other, Sans stood, eyelights off as he waited. 

 

(Author’s note; this section makes waaaay more sense if  [ this  ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf692zBUOac) is playing.)

 

As Gaster’s green, flaming body lit up the room, Sans stepped out, eye activating and music starting, slow and patient, as Papyrus crept out as well, his orange eye beginning it’s steady glow as his battle music melted into his brother’s. Gaster glared at the two, flaming green bones forming a halo of weaponry around his head as he stared down the two bone dogs. 

 

Sans growled in reply, then, his music overriding Papyrus’, Sans shot forward, claws tearing at the scientist, who staggered backward, rage blinding him and controlling him, overtaking the training drilled into him during boot camp before the war, all the agility and dodging lost to his demonic anger. 

 

Sans landed a few good hits before Papy jumped forward, magic blazing from his eye, as Gaster’s soul blinked blue and the scientist dropped to the floor with a growl. All Papyrus’ concentration went into keeping that spell, as Sans leapt back into the fray, bones and claws flashing to make a vicious strike. Gaster felt claws tear at the holes in his skull left by another of his experiments, the other in this room…

 

Although unseen. 

 

Papyrus’ music was still strong, as Sans raced around in a rapid, ever-changing pattern until he shot forward, kicking back feet into the side of Gaster’s jaw. 

 

The older skeleton’s concentration failed momentarily, and several of his attacks wavered, even as he shot them, and the boys easily dodged the longbones thrown their way, but they were tiring. A low thump was heard from behind Gaster, and both boys stopped, waiting, panting.

 

Chiller landed firmly on the floor, her music almost unnoticeable, but it twined well with her siblings’. Her eyes were flared, neon purple glow spread across the floor like headlights, the violet pupils little more than cold slits, a knife-slice in the darkness of her sockets.

 

“... **_Chiller._ ** ” Gaster growled.

 

“ **_Scientist, Gaster, Tormentor…_ ** ” She purred in reply. “ **_The possibilities are endless._ ** ” 

Gaster hissed through gritted teeth, magic flaring brighter. “ **_You killed Reno. You taunted him_ ** . ” His fists tightened, teeth grinding as his jaw skewed. 

 

“ **_Oh Gaster…_ ** ” She laughed. “ **_Like you killed Betans. Show me how to lie, you’re getting better all the time._ ** ” She mocked. Gaster, the last of his sanity lost to fury, flew forward with an enraged roar, flaming green bones shooting from the sides, at the long bone cat.

  
Chiller dove away from them, body in a whirling bone snake as she turned a full barrel roll to escape the attack, still driving forward. In his rage, Gaster raised his hand and summoned eight of his ‘Gaster Blasters’, their eyes glowing a furious green, alight with magic, as beams charged in their throats, the huge, dragonic skulls hissing with energy. Chiller’s ears flattened to her head, eyes wild and trapped, knowing that she wouldn’t escape this attack. 

 

Suddenly, the green in the Blaster’s eyes flickered, a loud crackle coming from behind them, as well as a determined grunt. Chiller turned to look back. 

 

Sans, in his human form, was upright, left hand raised in front of him, blazing with magic, as was his left eye, right hand gripping tightly to his left wrist, supporting the intense output. His teeth were set in committed focus, as the Blasters behind Gaster, one by one, had the green replaced with light blue in their eyes, and they flew to stand at attention behind Sans. The boy’s normal grin returned, but in earnest, even as sweat rolled off his skull from exertion. Sans snapped his fingers, and all the Blasters vanished into the boy’s inventory.

 

“Good work, Sans.” Chiller purred. “How ya feeling?” Chiller knew the child had a high concentration of magic but no stamina. 

 

“I’m… Pretty ok… Actually.” He panted, glow in his hand and eye fading. He looked tired. 

 

“Take it easy, Sans.” She purred back, and charged at Gaster again, teeth snapping at his face. Gaster stumbled back, and Papyrus darted behind him. 

 

The older skeleton tumbled backwards, tripping over the small bone dog, as Chiller brought up bone attacks, pinning Gaster to the floor with them.    
  
“ **_NO!!!_ ** ” Gaster screeched like a wounded animal. “ **_NO NO NO!!!_ ** ” His frenzied howls sparked up within the back of his throat, tearing the magic holding his nonexistent vocal cords to shreds. 

 

Ignoring Gaster’s screams, Chiller walked back over to her brothers, Papyrus shaking in terror at having to fight at all, while Sans’ eyelights had all but faded, leaving him looking ready to fall asleep in an instant. “You two ok?” She purrs, looking them up and down. 

 

“I’ll… live…” Sans’ words sound carefully thought out, like if he talked too much he might pass out. 

  
“Fighting scawey!” Papyrus whimpered, and hugged her, face against her collarbone, crying into her shoulder. 

 

“Yeah, I know Papy… I know…” She brought up a paw, rubbing her younger brother’s back as she took her ukulele, still in it’s case, from the side where she had hidden it, and strapped it to her back. Papyrus was busy shaking off anxiety, getting ready to run, while Sans used Chiller as a support, the magic used to take the Blasters rendering him nearly unconscious. 

 

Gaster, screaming like a tormented soul, struggled against his bonds, uncaring about the injury dealt to himself as he scrambled to get free. Sans, with a numb exhaustion to his movements, slowly got onto his older sister’s back, while Papyrus waited nervously at the door, doing his best to cover his nonexistent ears. 

 

“ **_I’LL FIND YOU!!_ ** !” Gaster howled after them as they fled. “ **_EVEN IF IT TAKES A THOUSAND YEARS CHILLER!!! I’LL FIND YOU!_ ** ” Gaster cried after them, wails ripping from his mouth as he broke into full fledged sobbing.

 

Chiller pauses, about 20 feet down the hall, and whispers something that she had seen written on the Ruin’s walls. “Non est tibi gloria , Creatorem.” she hisses, before leading her brothers up the stairs, toward their freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND FREEEEEDDDDOOOM
> 
> Kudos to those who know latin!
> 
> Also, comments are the way to my heart <3


	11. Highways Flew By, Run Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DAAAAAAAA
> 
> Alright, so I'm SO FUCKING SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS LATE!!!
> 
> The stupid year end tests and then my computer got a HORRIFIC virus so... Welp shit.

Slowly, the Child got to their feet, within the respawn screen. After only a few seconds of standing, they collapsed again, their body unusually weak.

 

*CHILLER is taking your determination.

 

_ Wait, what?  _ The Child thought. 

 

_ She’s...taking our soul. This is where we die. _ The Demon thought. 

 

_ No. This is where I chose our path.  _ The Child growled, and pulled up her FIGHT screen. Though this time, she pressed a button she had never pressed before.

 

**[SAVE]**

 

“Hey!” Frisk called into the darkness. “Ca-can we talk?”

______________________________

 

A blast of magic punched through the front door, tearing through the layers of metal and letting a wave of heat flow into the air-conditioned lab, instantly warming the entryway to a near-uncomfortable level. Within the fluorescent lights of the inner labs, the glow of the lava illuminated three figures. 

 

One stood, firm resolve in her violet eyes, one sat on the back of the first, left eye glowing a weak cyan, despite his determined glare. The last, youngest, stood in front of the others, right eye shining orange, looking on with fear and curiosity.

 

The group watched, shocked by the outside world. After a few seconds, though, the eldest nodded, and ran, claws driving into the red sandy stone of Hotland. Her youngest brother followed, while the middle brother lay across her back, too weak to run himself. The stifling heat pressed against their bones, the running only making it worse. The blaring, fierce alarms from the laboratory adding to the vicious chaos that surrounded their escape, as guards and other people rushed around the entrance, struggling to understand what was happening. 

 

Papyrus raced beside Chiller, casting a concerned glance at Sans, who's now-white eyelights were glazed and exhausted, eyelids half closed. His arms were weakly wrapped around Chiller’s neck, his body motionless and calm. 

 

“Brother? Are you alright?” Papyrus asked the limp form. 

 

“...’m fine.” Sans mumbled, mostly asleep.

 

“Hold tight, Sans.” Chiller growled. “We need to get out of here first. Then you can sleep, ok?” Her long strides were a little more controlled than normal, making sure her youngest sibling could keep up. Sans didn’t reply, but his grip tightened ever-so-slightly around her sharp neck vertebrae. The pair ran, fierce and free, four paws eating up the distance as they fled.

 

It was hours before the heat faded into the cool, humid environment of Waterfall. By then, Papyrus was panting, yet refusing to accept his sister’s offers to carry him, and Sans was pretty much unconscious. Chiller was still breathing steady and calm, like she was out on a morning stroll, not running for more than a minute at a time. Eventually, a town’s lights appeared around the cave walls, and Chiller slowed. 

 

“Where are we, Sister?” Papyrus asked, quiet and controlled to keep his panting at bay. 

 

“Twilighttown.” She hissed. “We’re going to get some stuff to protect you two.” Chiller took Sans off her back, then flared her magic. Black mist spread across her body in a skintight suit, and the pattern that was always apparent on her clothing shifted into existence on her back, extending onto her arms and legs. Papyrus watched as the suit took shape, forming over her body, then he shivered a little. The cool breeze that came from the east cut through his thin gown, and his tail twitched, shuddering and wrapping close to his leg.

 

“Chiller, I’m cold.” Papyrus whimpered, nuzzling his small head into her legs, the crown of spines on his head scraping the skin-like coating over her legs. 

 

“C’mon then Papy… We’ll find some clothes for you that isn't this… Thing.” Chiller used her tail to hook under the edge of papyrus’ medical gown.    
  
“Oh! Alright.” The small skeletal dog bounced close to her head.  _ He’s very hyper, even when tired.  _ She smiled. The group crept into the town, keeping close to the walls, away from people. Chiller eventually found an alleyway where she hid her brothers.    
  
“I’m going to get you two some clothes. Stay here.” She hissed, and ran off.   
  
The boys remained sat on the cold concrete, waiting for their sister to come back. After about 20 minutes of sitting in the cold, the boys hugging eachother for warmth, a rabbit walked by. She was tall, fur dyed a light caramel orange, her long coat draped over her body. While it looked similar in style to Gaster, it was black, a color of comfort and kindness to them.    
  
Nevertheless, Sans stood up and began weakly hissing at her. The rabbit flinched back a little, then stepped forward.    
  
“O-oh! Are you alright?” She asked the young boys, settling back onto her haunches. She was holding a bright green plastic bag, eyes as green as the bag she held. Sans stopped growling, but stared suspiciously at her, her cream-caramel fur waving in the wind, displaced from the tidy brush it had been in. “Aw, such cute little skeletons. Here, babies, I was going to take these to the donation centre, but you can have them.” She reached into her bag, and pulled out an old blue hoodie, the fuzzy fur ruff warm and soft. Then she pulled out a long, thick, bright red wool scarf, long enough to be considered a blanket. Papyrus shot forward, taking the scarf happily. 

 

“Thank you!” Papyrus beamed, and Sans struggled to his feet, slowly taking the sweater. 

 

“Thanks…” He mumbled, still exhausted. The bunny smiled at them.

 

“It's a shame that two such nice little skeletons should have to be out here in the cold. Maybe we should find where your home is.” She said to them. Both of the boys froze. “You stay here. I’ll be right back, alright?” The bunny lady stood up and walked off. 

 

They stood, stuck to the spot, eyes wide and fearful. 

 

“Where’s Chiller?” Sans asked, soul pounding in his chest. 

 

“Sister said she was going to-” Papyrus began shakily.

 

“What did I say?” Chiller walked in, carrying a small bundle of clothing. She stopped and went deathly still when she saw the scarf and jacket. “...Where did you get those.” She hissed, teeth bared.   
  
“A b-bunny lady gave us them…” Papyrus stuttered out. Chiller’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t hit them away or blast them. Instead, she nosed them, examining and taking in their full makeup.    
  
“...Put them on.” She commanded, a little more harshly than she needed to. “And while you’re at it, put on this too.” she handed Papyrus a pair of worn brown pants, too-big shoes, and a dark orange turtleneck sweater, as well as handing Sans some soft grey and blue exercise shorts, a white turtleneck, and some sneakers. The boys very quickly got into them, amazed by the softness of the fabric, the texture of the ruff on San’s hoodie, and the strange variegation on the turtlenecks.    
  
“Oh, uh, Sis?” Sans spoke up as he took Papyrus’ hand. “The bunny said something about ‘sending us home.’ She said she was coming back.” Chiller, who had been sorting through her ukulele bag and the unlikely amount of granola bars and other assorted snacks she had squeezed within the small spaces between the fabric case and blue-grey-pearl instrument, dropped the small bundle of blue cloth she had been holding. It made a small  _ thump, _ like a bag of sand.    
  
_ Or dust… _ Sans thought, staring at it. It had a line of neat black stitches in the side, a cut, maybe an inch or two long. Chiller seemed a little distant, distracted, so Sans walked over and put a hand on her paw.

 

“Chiller?” He said.

 

______________________________

 

_ C-0 was shoved roughly inside the shared room by the scientist, who closed the door afterward. B-0 sat on the bed, while A-0 hid in the corner.  _

 

_ “Pfft, not dead yet?” The feathered lizard cackled brokenly. “Too bad, it would’ve been nice never to see your ugly mug again.”  _

 

_ C-0 only snarled in reply. She talked the least of all the experiments, although that may have had to do with her animalistic muzzle. Either way, she limped over to the ‘bed’, really just a metal platform about a foot off the ground. Her back leg was covered in breaks, the ‘skin’ on it shattered. She could barely put weight on it, nevermind walk. She staggered toward the bed, left leg creaking and groaning when she tried to step. She got there, then placed both front paws on the side of the cold metal, and tried to pull herself up. Her leg failed her though, and she slipped, landing on her side on the floor. B-0 looked over, concerned, while A-0 gave a harsh bark of laughter.  _

 

_ “Are you alright?” The green kindness-based lizard asked the small skeletal cat. _

 

 _“Oh man, that was beautiful. I’m amazed that didn’t dust you!” A-0 howled in laughter. The sharp, bright beam of light that slammed into the wall a few feet above him with a deafening_ thwump _shut him up nearly instantly as he looked at the blackened section of wall._

 

_ “Next one… Goes 2 feet lower.” C-0 hissed, struggling to stand, purple mist leaking from between her teeth. A-0 remained silent. The paws, claws out, went up to the slick metal again, trying to gain an ounce of traction.  _

 

_ “H-here…” B-0 said, gently placing one hand on the back of her neck, the other, under her right front paw. “I’ll help.” He whispered, rubbing the back of her head comfortingly. He pulled her upward, as she kicked off the floor with a hiss of pain. Together, they managed to lift her broken, exhausted body onto the platform. The second she was up, she flopped over, laying on her side, chest heaving in agony. _

 

_ B-0 stared hard. Her head was on the icy metal. _

 

_ As quickly as he dared, B-0 reached over and scooped hands underneath the long, canine-dragonic skull, then placed it on his lap. Her breathing steadied, and her body relaxed. Almost unconsciously, B-0’s scaled, clawed hand drifted to her left back leg and glowed green, bright and pure, and the cracks faded. The stiff lines of pain, visible even in sleep, faded as the injury filled itself in, the white sheath over her leg warping to seal the distinct lines of injury. B-0 eased off the magic, letting out a long breath. Her spiked, sharp chest rose and fell quietly as she lapsed into an exhausted sleep. B-0’s hand moved to the side of her head, gently stroking the soft bone-fur that covered a good portion of her body. He cast a look at the scorch mark on the wall. _

 

We’d make a good team.  _ He thought.  _ She’s strong, I’m magic. We can survive this.

 

_ Six months later, Chiller had to cuddle with a pile of light green dust.  _

 

______________________________

 

Chiller jumped when Sans touched her, tensing. Sans pulled back.

 

“Ah, err… Yes. C’mon boys, let’s go.” She shook her head, trying to clear the memory.

 

“Are you ok, Sister?” Papyrus asked.

 

“Just fine, Paps. Just fine.” She looked away, eyes streaking purple. 

  
A few moments later, a long bone head peeked out of the alley, followed by two more, all three wolffish, dragonic. They remained on lookout for a few moments, before shooting outward, away from the bright lights of Twilighttown.


	12. If This Is Love, I Don't Want To Be Loved.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning this chapter.
> 
> Le Moi: Let's write FLUFF!!! It'll be so fluffy, filled with fluff, I'll make the kids go swi-
> 
> Plot: *Punches me in the face.* Do that next chapter.
> 
> Le moi: Buh-
> 
> Plot: NO!!! *Slaps me.* ONLY ANGST NOW.

 “Frisk, what are you doing?” Chara asked, then both hands flew to her mouth as she let out a stiff squeak. She could speak!

 

“Seeing if I can talk.” Frisk replied, then jumped a little at their own voice. “Hey! C-Chiller!” They called, the sound echoing throughout the black expanse.

 

***Yes?** A cold voice replied, obviously focused elsewhere at the time. 

 

“C-can… Ugh, ok, c-can I have my soul back?”

 

***Why? You killed everyone, including my one brother, and attempted on my other brother. If I hadn't arrived when I had, where would he be?**

 

“That wasn’t Frisk.” Chara walked over, head hung. “It was me. I’m the one who should die for this.” She nodded gravely, voice low.

 

Purple whisks surrounded Chara, and pulled out her soul. Frisk’s soul came with it, linked, inseparable. 

 

***...You two are together. Connected. I cannot separate you. So you both must die.**

 

Chiller withdrew, leaving them to their final hours of pain together.

 

“Wait!” Frisk called after their fleeting presence. “P-please…”

 

Chiller stopped.

 

“P-please, give me another chance!” Frisk tried to keep the whimper of fear from their voice. “I’ll try again, this time, I’ll get them out! I can, I know it!”

 

*Knowing that you can save monsterkind fills you with DETERMINATION.

 

Chiller looked at the message that floated above the child.

 

***...Fine…** “But remember kid,” She stepped out of their soul, severing the determination drain. All 9 feet of tall bone cat rose before the two children. “One slip up,” She stepped forward, claws sliding across the black floor. “one mistake,” She took another step, eyes blazing. “one step out of line,” Chiller settled on her haunches, at face level with the children, baring every single one of those flesh-ripping teeth. “And I come for  **Y O U F I R S T.** ” She hissed, then rose up to her full height again. “ **U N D E R S T A N D?** ” She tilted her head, horns curved viciously upward in a fierce display of prowess. 

 

Chara and Frisk suddenly realized that Sans would be the LEAST terrifying person this run. 

 

“I-I understand.” Frisk looked away from the furious eyes that bore down on her. 

 

“And  **Y O U.** ” Chiller began, turning to Chara. “Be better, or die. Clear?” She snarled. Chara looked away, and nodded gravely. 

 

“Glad we had this chat.” Chiller growled and vanished from their mindscape. 

 

“You’re not really gonna lis-” Chara began.

 

“No, Chara. Stop.” Frisk barked. Chara cowered. “I’m not scared anymore. Not of monsters. That’s the reason I let you take over. I was terrified. I’m not anymore.” Frisk’s hand drifted onto the glowing glass slide. “Stay quiet this run, ‘kay?” Frisk said as she pressed on the button.

 

“Ok Frisk…” Chara whispered.  _ Asriel… I’m sorry. _ She thought.

 

**[MERCY]**

 

______________________________

 

Chiller sighed, upper third lifted off the gravel of the cave in lookout, while her brothers curled against her lower ribs and stomach. The real reason that she wasn't letting them curl higher, closer to her soul, where it should’ve been warmer, was because of the disturbing and concerning cold that surrounded her soul, flowing off in icy waves. She stared tightly, tail curling about her younger brother’s leg, back claws scratching nervously at the stones. She didn’t like cuddling exactly, while she loved to sleep with her brothers, a comfort-call for all three of them, she hated how she had to keep everything above her fifth rib away from anything that could feel temperature. Her soul was a softly glowing heart, not inverted like most monsters… But only half of her soul ever glowed. As quietly as she dared, she pressed her paw to her chest and pulled out her soul. A good portion of her soul came out properly, glowing in a stained-glass of beautiful colours, light and dark blue, purple and red. As she pulled it out, though, black tendrils melted and stuck to her collarbones, like hot glue, dripping off half her soul like tar. Thick, heavy droplets marred her snow-white ribs. Half of her soul was cold, dark, heavy, and black.

 

Burned Determination.

 

The colour of Hate and Fear

 

She let out a long breath, pressing her soul back in her chest. She remembered when she got that, the 50% black determination, a night of pain and horror she would never forget.

 

______________________________

 

C-0 stood on the examination table, eyes shut tightly as Gaster pressed on the backing of the syringe, injecting the bright red determination into her bones. He pulled out the injector, the long needle sliding out of her bones with a sickening  _ schlick _ . Gaster went about logging the date, amount, and other knowledge. Just as he was signing the date onto the bottom of the page, C-0’s body erupted in a cold flood of pain. 

 

She gasped, then let out a scream, like a primal animal. Gaster snapped back as if stung, as his experiment’s body warped and morphed, melting and shifting. Gaster let out a horrified squawk, and began darting around the room to get the necessary items to save her life. 

 

Meanwhile, C-0 writhed on the platform, body tearing itself apart, as skin and bone became an amalgamated goop. Finally, through the haze of pain, she realized what she had to do. While her mind was screeching in agony, her body and soul knew what she needed to use.

 

_ MORE ENERGY _ It shrieked, and she rolled off the table, Gaster stumbled over her. She collapsed, rather than making a crack like she should’ve, a more splat noises her body melting and shifting horribly. She staggered to her feet, paws slapping against the tile in horrific splatterings, her deformed, misshapen legs leaping up to a platform.

 

She needed more energy. The best way to get energy would be the same thing that was trying to kill her. 

 

DETERMINATION.

 

She snapped teeth against vials, the glass cracking between her fangs.  _ Powders, liquids… No determination. _ She let out a screech, as finally, her teeth closed over a heated, angry vessel. She cracked the glass, swallowing it whole, the warm liquid seeping into her magic and body. Blinded by pain, she felt around with her melting, gooey jaws to the next vial. That one went too, before she was forced into the next one. This one shattered in her too-hard, shakes grip, and she frantically lapped it off the counter. Paws splayed, claws melting, as she got every drop. At last, came the final vial.

 

Glass lay heavily in her stomach, Gaster calling for some reason, frightened at her processes. 

 

Finally, she checked her stats.

 

Purple: 10%

 

Blue: 20%

 

Blue: 20%

 

Red: 60%

 

_ ITS TIME! BLAST IT. _ Something deep within her soul cried. Her soul appeared before her chest, half of it glowing a bright and burning red, the rest in each their own colours.  _ BURN IT BURN IT _

 

Her body screamed, and her soul lit on fire, energy blazing about it, as it shone like a disco ball, dragging her into the air, her body shifting back into it’s original shape, the alligator like jaw being the only thing that changed, smoothing back out into a graceful snapping jaw, melding into a beautifully predatory muzzle, while still contorted in horror and pain. 

 

Finally, a loud crack sounded, and her eyes, pupils little more than tiny slash-marks, opened wide in fear, as the small cuts on the tops and bottoms widened and lengthened, stretching upwards into fiercely hooked, bladed cuts in her skull. Her soul crackled once, and then a loud explosion threw her, Gaster, and everything in the room backward three feet, Chiller landing on the floor, bouncing, then coming to rest against a wall. Her soul ground and clicked in her chest, the previously inverted heart reverting, upright, like a human soul. The grinding of her tender and wounded soul against her spiked ribs was agony. Just as her vision faded, Gaster rushing over and  examining her injured form for anything life-threatening, she managed a check on her stats.

 

Purple: 10%

 

Blue: 18.5%

 

Blue: 17.5%

 

Red: 10%

 

Black: 54%

 

______________________________

  
Chiller blinked out of her reverie when Sans touched her arm.    
  
“Sis..? Why are you… So cold?” His hand drifted to a light touch on her shoulder, close enough to her soul to feel the waves of piercing glacial ice that fell from her soul. She flinched away.    
  
She tried to think of an excuse, a reason, a way to hide this, then she let out a long breath. “...Sans, do me a favor, and don’t tell Papyrus what I’m about to show you.” She whispered, and pressed a paw to her chest, between her collarbones. She gently pulled out her soul again, and Sans flinched back in horror. Chiller looked down in disappointment and self-hate. “...This is… My soul.” She breathed.    
  
Sans reached forward and touched one of the silky black tendrils that melted from her soul. It felt strange, raw energy and hate coursing through the melty-cheese-like strands of rot.   
  
“What… is this… why is it black?!” Sans touched the black half of her soul gently, then flinched back, not expecting the tar-half to stick to him. She slices the offending tendrils off Sans’ hand before pressing her soul back into her chest.    
  
“That’s... “ She wanted to say, ‘classified.’ Instead, she bites back a growl and tells him. Everything. “A long story.”   
  
It was at least an hour before she finished. Sans listened silently the whole time, eyes wide and shocked. Then, he pulled out his own soul to compare to hers. She was so much stronger than he was… “Sans… have your stats always looked like this?” she murmured, staring at the 1 ATK, 1 DEF soul.    
  
“Y-yeah…” He rubbed his arm, looking away. “I can only deal one damage.” He muttered.    
  
“...Let’s fix that.” Chiller purred, and took out a piece of her purple section of soul, slicing out an equally sized section of Sans’ blue soul. She switched the two pieces, grafting them into the other’s soul.    
  
“Now, use that to give those who hurt others what they deserve.” She hissed. Sans stared at the new color in his soul.   
  
“...Thank you…” Sans hugged Chiller.   
  
“...Anytime bro.” She looked out at the sparkling stones of Waterfall. “Anytime…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now you know. How did Chiller get her black DT? Now you know. 
> 
> ARE YOU HAPPY?!
> 
> Oh there's another one now... An extra really...
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/7184828
> 
> Its just Chara's ark, ok?


	13. And it All Will Fade To White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmsorry this is late
> 
> This chapter didn't want to get written
> 
> And I'm not sorry for the cliffhanger >:)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Cliffhangers on chapter 13... Unlucky for you sorry bastards!

_Ok, this is getting ridiculous._  
  
Chiller thought as she cleaned off her tongue for… not the first time. She was spitting up gobs of dirt, as she tried to keep Papyrus still. “Thtop, Pthapthy, thperiousply…” She curled her tail around him, not realizing how she sounded. Papyrus burst into giggles, while Sans started a deep, loud belly-laugh at her talking.  
  
“H-hey sis, what does a sick dog say?” He pressed.  
  
“I donth know, Thanth…” She sighed, shaking her head. “What doeth a thick dog thay..?” She looked at him, a smile alight in her eyes.  
  
“Sans, no. No jokes… Sans, Sans n-” Papyrus got wind of what Sans was about to say.  
  
“Barf barf barf!” Sans shouted, then rolled onto his back with laughter.  
  
Chiller started laughing too. Papyrus, meanwhile, struggled out of Chiller’s grip, walking over to Sans, and bapped him on the head. “NO! BAD SANS!” Sans was laughing too hard to do much more than weakly swat at the hand attacking him. “SANS NO!”  
  
“Sans YES!” Sans said, then stuttered. “Wait wait wait wait wait… Aren’t skeletons supposed to be mega calm?” He was holding in laughs.  
  
“Wha- why would that be, Sans?” Papyrus stared at him in genuine confusion.  
  
“Because nothing gets under our skin!” Sans managed, then collapsed in cackles.  
  
Chiller burst out laughing as well, choking a little on the dirt in her mouth. Papyrus screeched. “NO! BAD! BOTH OF YOU ARE TERRIBLE!!!” He stomped his small feet on the ground, face glowing orange through his scarf.  
  
“Y-you sure bro?” Sans gasped. “I th-thought they were pretty humerus!” He shouted before melting into giggles at his brother’s astonished and horrified expression.  
  
“SAAAAAAAANS!!!” Shrieked Papyrus.  
  
“P-P-Papy, e-e-everything’s going tibia ok…” Chiller stuttered through her laughter. Sans practically glowed as his sister made a pun, and Papyrus continued to lecture them.  
  
“THAT IS THE MOST INAPPROPRIATE USE OF BONE NAMES I HAVE EVER HEARD!!!” He shouted, pointing accusingly at his older siblings. “WE MUST HAVE A LONG DISCUSSION, I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH YO-” Papyrus froze. The siblings stopped laughing, and didn’t say a WORD.  
  
“...Oh my gosh.” Sans gasped.  
  
“...Papy…” Chiller whispered.  
  
“You… made a PUN!!!” Sans screeched, grabbing onto his brother and squeezing him into a tight hug.  
  
“SANS NO!”  
  
“Sans YES!” Sans jumped for joy. Papyrus pounced on him and started gently pummeling his brother.  
  
“Ok, if you two are done pun-ishing eachother…” Chiller stood, shaking off the dirt. “We’ve got a new place to go.”

  
The two boys shot eachother amused glares, before following their older sister out of the small cave where they hid. Chiller walked slowly, carefully, her ukulele strapped to her back, as they traversed deep into Waterfall.  
  
“Where’re we goin, sis?” Sans asked, hands in the pocket of his hoodie as the strange group walked along.  
  
“To give you two a bath.” She responded. “I can’t lick you clean anymore, it’s gotten too gross.”  
  
“But, aren’t you, like, a cat and stuff?” Sans tilted his head in her direction.

 

“Yes, but you two are dustier than all Hell.” She shook her head. “I don’t feel like cleaning off my tongue, thanks.” She gave a rough laugh.  
  
Sans just accepted the answer and walked with her, hand on her shoulder. For some… Unknown reason, the cold waves that fell from her soul were a comfort, a solace, not something to fear.  
  
He liked the small cold flow from her soul.  
  
Papyrus darted from echo flower to echo flower, whispering things to them, then giggling when they repeated his quiet words.

 

“C’mon you two goofballs we have places to be.” She started in a slight lope, putting on a little speed. Sans kept a gentle jog with her, while Papyrus sprinted ahead, long legs powering him ahead of his siblings. Before long, they came to a large, open area. Black sand was soft against their feet, small tufts of grass within the blackened grains.

 

The pools of icily still water seemed to glow with infused magic, shocks of it glimmering through the shining water. The moment that she could, Chiller began stripping her brothers to the bone, (heh)folding their clothing into neat stacks, before placing them in the backpack she had stolen. Everything was fully ready in case they needed to run. Chiller shook herself out, allowing her slight, light outfit to melt away, revealing her normal, sharp-spiked, bony self. She nudged both the boys into the water, spending a while teaching them how to swim, before Gerson, Undyne and Alphys happened upon them.  
  
Gerson was a veteran. He had been present for the War.

 

The Great War… that monsters lost.  


He had seen the forming of the barrier.

  
The reason that Chiller and her brothers existed.  
  
He was leading two young girls. The taller one, Undyne, was a water nymph. She was the daughter of the captain of the Royal Guard, Captain Ambrose. She spun her energy spear around experimentally. “Where’re we goin’, sir?” She asked in her usual flair.  
  
“Out to the ponds, Undyne. I figured it was a good day for swimming.” The aged turtle’s voice sounded a little gravelly.  
  
“AW YEAH!” Undyne tossed her spear to the side, the tip burying itself in a rock some 3 feet off.  
  
“U-Undyne, pl-please be c-c-careful…” Alphys muttered. The short yellow dinosaurid had been the young nymph’s best friend for most of their lives. The polar opposite of Undyne’s exuberance, Alphys was shy and hidden, preferring to stay inside and watch her silly human TV shows… although, she could draw pretty well.  
  
“C’mon Alphys! Isn’t this gonna be fun!” Undyne bounced on the balls of her feet, her question more of a statement.  
  
“I-I guess.” Alphys smiled meekly, showing a small line of teeth.

 

“YEAH!” Undyne did a joyful fistpump.

 

“Alright girls, calm down, let’s get down to the water, before one of you lo-” Gerson froze. In the small pond where the three of them often went, were three very strange creatures. The smallest one stared at them, curiosity in his wide eyes. The next oldest one, left eye glowing blue, rose slightly from the pond. He was deathly thin, even for a skeletal creature, and small. The last one made Gerson step back. “Girls, back up.”

 

“What?!” Undyne gasped, staring at him in shock, then she followed his gaze to the eldest female. “...What is that?” Both girls were fixated on the female’s long, vicious muzzle, lined with fangs that were meant for ripping apart flesh.  
  
“That, is a predatory monster.” Gerson hissed low. “A rare subtype of monster that eat meat.”  
  
“But sir, Undyne eats meat.” Alphys stated, a little more confident now that they were speaking at a volume she was comfortable with.  
  
“She is an Omnivorous monster. You and I are herbivorous monsters, Alphys. It means that we eat monster food and plants. Undyne eats monster food, meat and plants. To be a predatory monster is to only eat meats, some monster food, and predatory monsters have a set of specific actions and traits to them.” Gerson watched the three skeletal monsters, who were also watching him. The bright, slitted purple eyes of the predator glared down at him, as her younger brothers scrambled out of the water.  
  
Gerson’s stomach did a flip-flop. The boys were littered with scars, from small, medical slices on their ribs to tiny pinpricks, which could’ve been mistaken for bullet holes if they were larger. The veteran had seen enough tortured monsters to know exactly what those marks were.  
  
_Needlework._ Gerson almost snarled with the implications as the boys morphed, bodies transforming into something upright and strong, like skeletons were supposed to look. The predator rose out of water as well, glaring at Gerson and the girls behind him. Gerson knew, if she wanted to kill all three of them, there wouldn’t be much he could do. For now, she just stood a few feet behind her brothers, watching them carefully.

 

“H-hello?” Undyne had snuck out from behind Gerson and was steadily creeping toward the brothers.

 

“Undyne!” Gasped Gerson. He took a step forward to grab her and pull her back, but a steady growl started up. The predator was growling at him, not Undyne. The second Gerson stepped back, she stopped growling, although her glare never lost it’s malice at Undyne.  
  
_Her spear isn’t there… thank god…_ He thought, as the smaller brother, red scarf billowing behind him, walked boldly toward her. The two, a tall, strong nymph and a smaller, weak skeleton, stared at eachother. Then Undyne held out her hand.

 

“Hi! I'm Undyne!” She said, smiling widely. The boy gave her a sloppy, sideways shake.

 

“I’m Papyrus!” He near-yelled. A slight smile appeared on Gerson’s wizened face. These two were so alike it was funny.

 

The predator’s eyes narrowed at Undyne, but she was no longer giving her a death glare. Gerson sat down, and Alphys crept toward the second boy, who was standing less than a foot from his brother.

 

“H-hello… I-I’m Alphys.” She offered him a paw, scales slightly damp from the mist.

 

“...’m Sans.” He said coolly, near-inaudible. He gently shook her hand, with a little more prose than his brother. “N-nice to meet you.” He whispered. Alphys cracked a small smile. Sans and her were also similar. Quiet, calm, a little nervous. This would do just fine.

 

While her brothers were making first introductions, the predator made a soft purr and got out of the water fully. As she did, black magic coated her form, going to form clothing. Before it did, though, Gerson got a glance at her body.

 

She was worse off than either of her brothers, and Sans was worse than Papyrus. Her entire body was laced in a net of cracks and scalpel marks, needlepoints and blackened scars. The horns on her head were the only things really untouched, he thought, until she turned her head slightly, revealing three small holes threading through the lower section of her biggest horn. The horns lowered and fused together, a more catlike shape to contradict her wolffish muzzle.

 

 _Not horns,_ Gerson realized. _Ears._ The right one flicked again, sending a spattering of water drops flying from her ear. She sat down to observe her brothers. Undyne and Papyrus chased each other through some of the shallower pools, while Sans and Alphys sat by the side, quietly discussing monster types, strangely enough. Apparently, Sans knew all about different types of monster subspecies, and Alphys was quite eager to learn about everything that he knew.

 

The predator sat quietly by the side, a familiar happiness in her eyes. Seeing her brothers happy made her happy. It went that way for quite a while, Undyne and Papyrus playing tag and having splash fights, Sans and Alphys’ conversation having grown into a full blown scientific debate over predatory behaviours.

 

Then her one ear stuck straight up, splitting into its pieces. She shot to her feet, and whirled to face a bush to her left. All playing in the clearing stopped.

 

A pair of Royal Guards crashed through the underbrush, their previously ninja silent efforts thwarted by a set of ears infinitely more sensitive then their own.

 

“There they are!” The one pointed directly at the boys, who’s eyes had widened to he size of the King’s teacup saucers. Sans, already in his alternate, doglike form, let out a small blast of energy as the guards approached him. The shot was more like a warning beam, and both of the guards backed off momentarily. They soon pressed forward, as Sans and Papyrus stepped away fearfully, and their sister stepped forward, tail low and ears lower, but head high and body relaxed. As they came close, she took in a deep breath, and Gerson realized exactly what she was planning to do… But she was holding off, just for a few seconds.

 

For them.

 

“Girls, cover your ears!” Gerson yelled. Both obeyed without question, and the predator cut loose.

 

The ground vibrated with the force of the noise, and both guards jolted back in horror and instinctive fear.

 

A predator’s roar was something to fear. Gerson remembered their terrifying howls in the war, predators left and right howling to scare even humans. Even the smallest predator had a good roar, and she was no small predator.

 

It took several seconds for the ringing to stop, the terrifying sound echoing through the ground. Both of the guards seemed definitely more nervous now, but they continued their approach.

 

A mistake.

 

The predator opened her mouth and let out a beam of purple energy, the long bolt of light lancing through the clearing. Both guards hit the deck. She purposely kept it away from Gerson and the girls, although they got close enough to feel the heat pouring from the beam. The predator snapped her jaws shut, cutting off the stream of energy. Smoke poured from between her teeth, a call out to the power she possessed. The slitted purple eyes met Gerson’s older, yellow ones, and a brief moment of understanding passed between them. She gave a slight nod, no more than a dip of her muzzle. The elderly turtle nodded back. Then she wheeled around with a sharp bark, and her brothers darted after her, three white shapes disappearing into the edge of Snowdin's Forest.

 

One of the guards made a move to follow, but Undyne shot in front of him, pointing an energy spear defiantly at his chest. And the young nymph, daughter of the captain, spoke the single most powerful words that anyone could've said at that second.

 

“You will NOT follow them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR TWO MONTHS?!!!! CRAP ON A CRACKER!!!!
> 
> But thank you guys, my readers, for all that you do and support. Comments are the way to my heart <3


	14. And You, You're Just a Substitute for the One that I Hold Dear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Grillby

Undyne growled low, showing her sharp teeth. Nowhere near as sharp as any of the skeletons she had just seen, but the eldest one had been completely fearless, and she wanted to replicate that.

“Young lady, I’m sure we can discuss this once I-” The guard began.

“No! You’ll stay away from them!” She jabbed the spear at him again, and he stepped back. The point looked viciously sharp.

“Speaking of which, why do you want to catch them anyway, rookie?” Gerson walked over, glaring at the guard. “Those three are injured, starving and scared. We should be helping them.”

“S-sorry, Gerson, sir! B-but we were given orders to capture. Dr. Gaster wants them taken alive.” The guard looked sheepish.

“...I’ll be fixin’ that real soon.” The old turtle snarled. “C’mon girls! We’re going to have a nice talk with Undyne’s papa.”

______________________________

“S-sir, you have a visitor!” The comms rang in.

“Reschedule. I need a few hours to file these reports.” The large, scaled hand pressed on the button before he spoke.

“Sir, I d-don’t think they are taking no for an answer!” The guard sounded a little frantic. “Ah! Excuse me sir, plea-” They cut off for a second, before a loud, familiar, and very angry shout rang through the comms. It nearly blew the speakers with the force of the sound.

“AMBROSE!”

“S-sir?!” The salamander gasped, staring at the comms in shock.

“Yes you idiot, are your ears filled with water sausages? I’m coming in there!” The retired old soldier barked. It was a collective 5 seconds before the door was slammed open and a very pissed off, old turtle stormed in the door, followed closely by the Captain’s daughter and her best friend. “Call off the search for these two!” Gerson slapped a wanted poster down on his desk.

“Th-the skeleton brothers? But we were assigned-” Stuttered the captain, dumbfounded.

“Does it look like I give a shit?!” Roared the veteran. Undyne's didn’t even make a crack about the bad word, her face set in a determined glare.

“Hold on! We were assigned to find these two by the Royal Scientist!”

“And I have reason to believe he is medically torturing them!” Gerson hissed like a ticked snake. “Those kids had needle scars, Ambrose! Needle scars!”

“Dad, they really did! They looked awful, all thin and weak!” Undyne drove the point of her spear into the hardwood floor for emphasis.

“...” Ambrose considered the words. He had never seen Gerson this mad before, but he still had a duty. “...We can’t call off anything without evidence.” He growled.

“E-excuse me, sir?” Alphys spoke up. “I-I may have some e-evidence for you…” She placed her phone, the photos application open on it. Ambrose looked over the collection of 6 pictures. Gerson leaned in as well. He hadn’t realized that the girls had gotten pictures of their new friends.

The first one was a selfie of Sans and Alphys. Alphys was doing a goofy anime wink, while Sans was doing a half-hearted peace sign. From the downwards angle of the camera, they could see the upper few of Sans’ ribs… Scarred and pricked, burned and cut. Ambrose felt a little queasy looking at the injuries. The next photo was a selfie of Papyrus and Undyne, both laughing at something. With Papyrus, it was easy to see the lack of nutrition on his thin bones, whereas he should’ve been relatively strong for a young skeleton. The next several pictures showed similar markings, until the last one. A picture of the predator. The flash had almost negated the effects of her outfit… Allowing it to be seen through. Ambrose switched past that one as fast as he could, the telltale scars of torture evident on her body. He silently selected the six pictures and emailed them to himself. Then he leaned over and pressed the comm on.

“...Call off all searches for the Skeleton Brothers case.” He said gravely. Undyne smirked in triumph, hugging Alphys.

“S-sir?” The guard on the other line asked.

“DID I STUTTER?!” Ambrose shouted. “Give new orders to everyone! They are to be unharmed and left alone! I want to know of every sighting of them, but don’t touch them! And if Gaster asks, we’re doing everything we can.”

“Yes sir!” The comm replied. Ambrose sat back. “...Until we find them and get them a good home…” He rubbed his face with one massive, webbed hand. “We can’t accuse Gaster of anything.”

“Thanks daddy! Now, I just need to find Papyrus and tell him he’s safe!” Undyne purred happily, retrieving her spear from its spot before skipping out of the room with Alphys.

“...Thanks, sir.” The captain muttered to his old mentor.

“Please…” The elderly tortise smiled. “Call me Gerson.”

______________________________

Chiller skidded to a halt near a tree’s roots. There seemed to be a hollow underneath them, big enough to fit all three. Problem was, how close to town they were.

This’ll have to be it. Chiller thought, slipping inside. Gently, she placed Papyrus and Sans on the floor. When they got deeper into Snowdin’s forest, the boys could no longer run in the thick snow. Chiller had simply picked them up and run away. “...You boys ok?” She purred.

“F-fine…” Sans whimpered. He sounded a little shaken.

“C-Chiller? Will our new friends be alright?” Papyrus asked. Chiller stopped.

“They’ll be fine Papy.” She nuzzled him. “They wanted to help us. They stayed back to make sure we could get away.” She looked her brothers over for potential injury, the one burning requirement stinging in her chest.

“Should we go check on them?”

“No. They’ll be fine. You saw your friend, Undyne? She’s pretty tough. Those two will make it out of there.” She shook her head. “But… Boys, there’s something we forgot.” She hissed.

“...Do we need to go back?” Sans asked, concerned.

“...I do.” Chiller snarled. Instantly, both boys leapt up in protest. “Calm down!” She barked. “Listen, ok?” The two sat down and waited for her explanation. “The other experiments. A lot of monsters could get hurt if I don’t go get rid of them. Sans, you are strong, and I’ve taught you how to hunt. You need to be big brother until I get back, ok?” She was stepping toward the entrance.

“B-but when will you be back?” Sans asked, voice filled with fear.

“...I’ll be back in four days, Sans, ok?” She nuzzled both the boys. “Four days.” And then she turned around and sprinted out of the entrance.

______________________________

It was Grillby who first started hearing rumours of some kind of something in Snowdin's forest, but he had never seen them.

Grillby was a fire elemental, and the sole owner of a bar of the same name, and as such, he got a lot of the gossip in the town. It was the dogs that first started talking about them.

“I swear, it keeps swipin’ my dog biscuits!” Doggo yelped.

“Not it, they!” Doggaressa made a hand gesture. “There’s two of them! Stupid kids, unlocking my lunchbox…”

“Kids?!” Lesser Dog growled. “All I saw were a pair of skeleton dog things! Really fast too!” She slammed a fist on the table.

“No, it’s kids! They get in my station at night, steal my sandwiches!” Dogamy barked.

Greater Dog barked out a string of angry words in Pekingese, none of which Grillby understood.

“Yeah well, at least it’s not your sandwiches…” Dogamy grumbled.

“What is this?” Grillby asked. All the dogs jumped.

“Geez, Grilbs, for a guy made of fire, you sure are quiet!” Lesser dog had a paw pressed to her heart, as if she was encouraging her own breathing. “How do you do that?”

“Practice, Sherry, practice.” He smiled, showing the fine rows of fiery fangs. The dogs laughed when he used Lesser Dog’s real name. “But really, what did you see?”

“Skeleton dog thi-”

“Kids! Skeleton kids!” The dogs rose up, their barks ringing across the bar, but three words were always clear; Skeleton, Kid, or dog.

After Grillby got the dogs settled, he considered the facts. Many people had said rumours of a pair of children or dogs, either one skeletal.

It was a Wednesday when he really, well and truly, saw them.

He had seen glimpses of them in the trash before, when he left food for them, qbut now...

The elemental had been putting his garbage in the dumpster, throwing the white trash bags into the large corrugated metal box carelessly. When one landed, a young, small voice yelped.

“Ouch!”

Grillby froze. He took a slight step away from the dumpster before lighting a large flame in his hand. Creeping close to the dumpster, the elemental peeked over the edge… To be greeted by two pairs of bright white eyes. All three jumped in shock. Two skeleton children crouched in Grillby’s dumpster, one in a blue coat and black and white sweat-pants, the other, in an orange turtleneck and grey pants. Neither seemed to know what to do, and the older one was flushed with blue magic, sweat on his skull despite his shaking. He was in a pretty bad way.

“..H-hello?” Grillby asked. That set the two into motion. Instantly, they leapt from the dumpster, the older one in blue grabbing the younger around the chest before darting down the alley, shoving past Grillby and streaking into the snow, rounding a corner toward the centre of town. Grillby, shocked, whirled around and follows them, only to jerk back when he saw the tracks. They just… Ended.

Grillby ran a hand through his hair, the fire flickering back like animated hair.

______________________________

Sans reappeared in their small hollow, clutching Papyrus to his chest. His left eye burned with the magic he had just used to teleport. Papyrus whimpered from the experience of teleporting.

It had been maybe three months since Chiller left. Neither sight nor sound of her had returned. She was… Gone.

Sans had taken over role of big brother. He hunted, protected, provided… All of it.

Recently though, he had been having problems breathing. He felt weak and tired, dizzy and always hot. Something was wrong. No longer able to hunt, Sans was forced to go into town and scavenge food.

Papyrus often went with him for support and assistance, Sans being nearly too weak to keep walking. It was dangerous for him to be outside.

That night, Sans lay in an uncomfortable half-doze, his body burning up and shaky. Papyrus held his older brother’s head on his lap, pressing a handful of snow to his brother’s skull.

Papyrus glares at the entrance to the cave, the snowstorm already starting up.

He made up his mind.

He needed to get help.

For Sans.


	15. The Only True Monster Down Here Was Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fuck 15?! Thanks you guys :D

Down way below even the Underground’s surface, a laboratory lay. It was hidden beneath layer upon layer of rock, protecting and shielding it. 

 

This is where a lone figure prowled through the grey halls, violent violet eyes leaving streaks of their vicious and beautiful colour behind the smoothly flowing ridges of her skull. The long, sharp tri-horns on either side of her head cut through these small slices of magic, splitting and dispersing it. Her long, sharp body, angular and powerful, stretched down the hall, long limbs opening and closing a massive, four-pawed stride. 

 

The bone leopard stalked down the hall, the overhead fluorescent lights casting a long, sharp shadow over her ribs and the ridges of her spine, her spiky figure highlighted by darkness.

 

Goopy creatures, little more than animals, cowered in corners as she walked down the hall, casting her sharp grey outline on more and more of the creatures, their small, gooey forms shivering under her intense gaze, the laser pointer of doom, herald of death. She was the Grim Reaper’s dog, his little seeker, who was sent out to check the stocks on prey, before taking whomever he asked.

 

It would be all of them. 

 

She continued walking down the hallway, fear in her wake. 

 

_ Good, _ She thought.  _ let them fear me. _

 

_ They’ll all die one way or the other. _

 

______________________________

 

Sans gave a rough cough. That had also been something that showed up from time to time, a vicious, hacking cough that tore at his throat and lungs. Papyrus gave him a gentle pat on the back. Sans gave his brother a weak grin before collapsing into another coughing fit.

 

Papyrus held his brother gently upright, supporting him while he struggled to get air back into his lungs. “It’s alright Sans… Breathe…” Papyrus encouraged as Sans took deep, heaving breaths, panting in the aftermath of his fit. 

 

“I’m… Ok… Bro…” He gasped, trying to stand up and push off his brother, but he could barely stand, legs shaking with the effort to keep him standing. 

 

“C’mon, we need to get to that alley.” Papyrus pushed his brother a little, encouraging him to take a step forward, as he wrapped Sans’ upper arm around the back of his neck. Sans took a shaky step, leaning on his younger brother. Papyrus silently thanked Asgore that he was growing up faster than his brother, or else he doubted he would be able to hang on to his brother’s thick form. The two staggered through the town in the semi-darkness, the half-inky dusk coating the sleepy town, hiding the boys from view. The pair walked, Sans being half-dragged, into the alley beside the restaurant. 

 

The restaurants’ dumpster was always full of food, things that other monsters wasted. Papyrus set Sans gently on the ground beside the dumpster, then hopped inside.

 

Because of the care that Chiller and Sans had given him before Snowdin, keeping him safe and well fed, Papyrus actually was capable of now providing for his older, weakened, sick brother. Morphing into his Blaster form, Papyrus started sorting through the bags, slicing them open with his claws. If he had been keeping track, it had been almost 4 months since Chiller vanished. Papyrus could hear Sans’ raspy breathing outside as the bag split open, revealing another bag, smaller, with two of the small, round, bread and cooked meat objects, and a bunch on long, yellow, crunchy sticks. They were still warm. Papyrus considered them, before taking a few careful sniffs. 

 

_ Are they poisonous? Are they a trap? _ Papyrus thought, staring at the bag. After a few seconds of indecision, he picked up the bag and hopped out of the dumpster. Sans was sitting down, leaning back into the dumpster, his breathing sharp and shallow, eyes closed.

 

“Sans?” Papyrus asked, nudging him with his nose. 

 

“Mmmmngh…” Sans grumbled in pain and exhaustion, before sitting up and opening his eyes. Papyrus took one of the rounds out of the bag and set it in front of his brother. Sans growled at the sight of it. “...’m not hungry…” He whimpered. 

 

“Sans, please.” Papyrus nudged it closer to Sans, who turned away. “Just have a little bit.” He pleaded. Sans turned back, and picked up the round and took a bite out of it. Papyrus gave a small purr, biting into his own round. Papyrus had finished his round and started on the sticks when Sans, who had finished about half of his round, gave a small hitch in his breath.

 

Another one. 

 

Another one… They were getting faster. 

 

Sans rolled up from his sitting position, dropping his round, and pressing a hand to his stomach. His eyes widened, and he turned over to the side of the dumpster…

 

And vomited, body completely rejecting whatever he had just tried to stick in it. The half-digested, light blue, goopy glowing mess splashed onto the snow, sticky and wet, the scent of vomit thick in the air.

 

Papyrus was at his side in an instant. “S-Sans?” He asked as his brother let out a groan and sank back down in the snow. Sans’ eyes were closed, sweat beading his forehead, heat dumping off him in buckets. “S-Sans please…” Papyrus nudged him. No response. “Sans? SANS?! SANS!?!” He shouted at his brother’s limp form. “SANS WAKE UP!” Papyrus howled. 

 

“SAAANS!!!”

 

______________________________

 

Grillby was jolted out of his nap by a loud howl outside. It was almost 4 in the morning, judging by the light that was creeping in through his windows. Grillby got up off the couch, just as another piercing howl shrieked through his window. It was coming from the alley. 

 

The fire elemental opened the door slowly, peeking out cautiously. It had been said that the animals were dangerous, possessing of large claws and a powerful bite, and a beam attack that could fire from their mouths. Grillby had expected to see a scuffle, maybe an alleyway fight, and as such, the relatively old elemental was fully prepared to break up a minor battle.

 

What he did see, though, caught him off guard. 

 

A skeleton child, the one in the blue coat, was slumped beside his dumpster, unconscious. Beside him, whimpering and nuzzling, was a skeletal dog. It was dressed in an orange turtleneck and grey pants, which had been warped slightly by his strange form. Grillby must’ve made a slight squeak of shock, because the dog whirled around to face him. It gave a rough few barks, shaky and frightened, trying to scare him off.

 

“H-hey, I’m sorry, I… I won’t hurt you…” Grillby crept toward him, offering a hand.

 

The dog stopped barking, and stared curiously. He was small, shy, but he edged closer anyway. 

 

“I won’t hurt you, I promise. I just… You’re brother’s hurt. I can help him.” Grillby said quietly, continuing his approach, reaching a hand for him.

 

Then the dog reacted. The dog gripped onto the skeleton’s sweater, yanking him upright, then throwing him onto his back. The boy blinked awake, eyes glazed and feverish, to gaze semi-blindly at Grillby. He instinctively gripped to the dog’s back, as the small beast, of equal size, raced off. 

 

Grillby followed slowly, not wanting to scare it.

 

“Huh.” He said, looking at the ground. “So this one does leave tracks.”

 

______________________________

 

She licked dust from her claws, the remains of the goopy creation she had just defeated.

 

These things were difficult to kill, easily dodging every attack. She had to be smarter than their instincts.

 

It was a good thing she was.

 

Once her claws were clean, she scraped them on her other claws, sharpening the biological weaponry. Happily armed, she resumed her hunt, strutting the halls, sniffing along the base of the walls. Tail waving, she pounced on a corner, a tiny mouse scrambling from the base of the wall. She snapped it up, teeth crunching onto the small bones, a spattering of blood splashing from her muzzle. After a second, she swallowed the furry, bone amalgam that she had caught.

 

It was day four. She was just walking away, back toward the entrance, when something made a loud clang. 

 

_ A… Generator?  _ She wondered, looking behind her. She stared at it for the longest time, wondering about the loud clanging, until the door on her left slammed shut.

 

_ Oh…  _ It occurs to her slowly.  _ Oh shit! _ She let loose a roar and shot for the exit, pushing her body as hard as it would go. If she did make it out, tomorrow would hurt. 

 

She could see the door! The freedom! Safety! Her brothers!

 

She leapt for it… And slammed her face into the cold metal as she rammed into the door.

 

_ “N-no… _ ” She whimpered. “N-no… NO!!!” She slammed herself into the door and screamed. “NO NO NO NO!!!” She scraped on the unyielding metal door. 

 

She slammed herself into that door until her body was broken. 

 

Then she beat herself against it until her mind was too.

 

And then she kept going. Nothing would keep her from her brothers.

 

Not even death.

 

______________________________

 

Papyrus ducked inside of the cave, purring condolences and reassurances to Sans, who was barely conscious. 

 

“P-Paps, bro…” Sans breathed. “D-did the mo-monster h-hurt you?” Sans tried to check over his brother, only to collapse on the bed of leaves. Papyrus nudged Sans. 

 

“S-Sans?” He looked up and down his limp brother, trying to get him to wake. Finally, he set Sans upright. The stockier skeleton was flushed, sweaty, and breathing hard. Papyrus took in a sharp breath. “O-oh...oh-oh no… S-S-Sa-Sans?” He asked his brother’s unconscious form.

 

“...” Papyrus made the call, letting out a long sigh. He turned around and raced out of the cave. 

 

Aversion was no longer an option. 

 

He had to get help.

 

______________________________

 

She slammed herself against the door, roaring. Her fury was unconfined, shrieking through the marrow of her bones. She was crazy, tearing at it, wearing her bones to dust.   
  
Her body was through, but her soul was shrieking. She lay against the door, the cold metal letting her blackish-red blood smear across it. She collapsed, spent...   
  
1/666 hp.   
  
She got up and drove a paw into the door, feeling the bones crack.    
  
-5/666 hp.   
  
She gasped, and collapsed to the ground, breathing shallow and fading.    
  
_ I’m… Dying.  _ She realized, as her body began to fade into dust.    
  


Her vision started to blacken, and she started falling. Right before she did, though, she remembered. 

  
_ But... Sans... I promised... _ __   
  


-4/666 hp.   
  
_ I swore I would come back. _ __   
  


-3/666 hp.   
  
_ I have to _ .   
  


-2/666 hp.

 

_ For them. I need to return home. _

 

_ - _ 1/666 hp. 

 

_ I can do this. My life is my own.  _

 

0/666 hp.

 

_ *Determination. _

 

1/666 hp.   
  
She stopped dusting. Her body froze itself. "I'll... Take a break..." She laughed humorlessly, the darkness closing in on her sight as she passed out.

 

______________________________

 

Grillby swore. “I’m telling you, these two are in a lot of trouble! They’re very hurt, and starving!” He slammed a fist on the table. 

 

The dogs flinched. “Alright alright…” Doggo spoke up. “Look, Grillbz, we have our orders, to not touch them, but to track them, so if you don’t mind, we’d l-”

 

Something knocked quietly on the door.

 

Grillby got up and opened the door slowly. 

 

Standing before him, upright as his human form, a small skeleton in a tattered orange turtleneck and grey pants, stared at him in fear and shock. “P-p-please h-help...m-my br-brother is s-sick…” He whimpered. 

 

Grillby turned to face the dogs, already getting prepared to go into the forest. 

 

“...we’ll help you.” Grillby told the skeleton child. “What is your name?” He asked.

 

“P-P-Papyrus…” The child whispered. 

 

“We’ll help, Papyrus. Can you show us where he is?” 

 

“Y-yeah!” He sounded a little more easygoing now that they would help them, a kind of hyper and happy kid.

 

“Alright guys, let’s go.” Dogamy said as Papyrus turned around and started in a swift jog for the forest. The dogs and Grillby followed him to an old, slightly uprooted tree. Papyrus ducked under the small, snowy entrance, and spoke to someone. 

 

“Sans? Sans?” He asked. Lesser dog put her muzzle to the entrance, and Papyrus hissed. The white dog leaped back in shock. “Only… Only him!” Papyrus pointed to Grillby, who let out a sigh, got on his hands and knees (after Lesser had put her coat on the snow.) and he peeked inside. 

 

The other brother was inside, sat up but slumped to the side. He was unconscious, sweat beading his forehead, face flushed blue. Grillby gasped. 

 

“O-oh… Oh my…” Gingerly, he grabbed the unconscious boy, lifting him from the cave. Papyrus bit the side of his mouth, before grabbing a black instrument case from the side and slinging it over his shoulder. Then he followed Grillby. “...Come on, Papyrus. We’re going to take good care of your brother, alright?” Grillby said as he stood up, clutching the weaker boy to his chest. Papyrus nodded and followed, gripping to Grillby’s leg with one hand, the other on the straps of the case, as the elemental lead them back to his bar.

 

______________________________

 

The creature charged up a beam, a final beam, and fired. The door, after so many trials… Broke.

 

A monster happened to be investigating this lab as she did, smoke and dust pouring from it in a blinding wave. That monster looked around the smokescreen. 

 

“Hello?” He asked the darkness of the labs. Two purple eyes flickered open at his words. “Oh, thank Asgore, I thought I was lost for sure! Who’s do-” 

 

The purple creature lunged forward and caught the monster around the neck, feeling his body shatter to her sharp teeth. 

 

_ I…’m… Sor...ry… _ She thought as she took his soul and ate it.

 

She had siblings to find.


	16. I'm Comin' Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH IT'S BEEN WRITTEN FOR TWO WEEKS AND ITS FINALLY OUT OMFG
> 
> I'm in winnepeg... As it turns out, Ipads and A03 don't play well with eachother, and the internet here is SHIIIIT

Chiller started a steady jog out, traversing despite her injuries. Her body was starved and weak, but she pressed onward, determined to get home. Her blood, blackish red, flowed over the places that she walked. 

She hoped she could keep her strength long enough to get there.

______________________________

Grillby lay Sans on the couch, and covered him with a blanket. Papyrus nervously sat beside his brother, stroking his skull comfortingly. It was a surprisingly short time before Sans’ bright blue eyes opened blearily and focused on Papyrus’ face. 

“P-Paps?” He croaked groggily. Papyrus jumped, and looked down at his brother. 

“S-Sans! You’re ok!” The younger skeleton gripped to him, pressing them close. Sans blinked a few times, patting his brother slowly. 

“Where’r we?” Sans asked, struggling to sit up. 

“T-the monster… Saved us…” Papyrus helped Sans to a sitting position, leaning the heavier body into his own. 

“The fire guy? The one who kept leaving us food?” Sans questioned, nuzzling into his sibling’s shoulder for warmth. 

“Yeah, him.” Papyrus looked around, unsure. The flame monster’s house was warm and comfortable, pleasant and easy. A small fire glowed in the fireplace, casting gentle shadows about the room.

It was still too open for Papyrus. Light meant danger, unless it was purple. Darkness and hiding were two of Chiller’s greatest rules for survival. 

_ What happened to her?  _ Papyrus thought. He wished she was here… To protect them, tell them if this flame monster was trustworthy. His hand snaked down to rest on the neck of the instrument case, the resting place of her most praise possession. He could almost feel the ukulele glowing, demanding to be played through the fabric.

Grillby walked back into the room, seeing Sans awake. He had run and grabbed some cough medicine, soup, and a cold cloth. He set the items down, while the elder skeleton brother watched him like a hawk. 

“How are you feeling, Sans?” Grillby asked. 

“...Better.” The boy clipped out. It was a quick reply, a placation. Sans’ hand drifted down, into his jacket pocket. His phalanges wrapped slowly around the handle of the rusty blade he had found in the trash. 

“...You and your brother are safe, you don’t need to be worried anymore.” Grillby said cooly, trying to be comforting. “Would… You two like some food?” He asked them, offering the soup.

Sans’ hand shifted a little, nearly releasing the knife, but not quite… Papyrus, though, gently took the soup from the fire elemental. “Th-thank you…” He whispered. 

Sans took a long look at that soup. He could sense no malice on the flame, and nothing in the soup… Plus he was hungry… 

He let go of the knife, grabbing a spoon and taking a mouthful of soup. It was really, really tasty.

_ Huh… Maybe…? _ Sans wondered as Grillby smiled. Both of the skeletons began eating in earnest, practically inhaling the soup.  _ Maybe he… Isn’t bad… _ Sans thought.

______________________________

Chiller dragged herself through waterfall, her legs shaky and weak.  _ Have to get… To them…  _ She thought. She traveled by back roads, relying on her predatory build to scare off her attackers. Even so, progress was slow and painful. Her body was torn to shreds, broken and battered, her magic drained. She had managed to heal more, but at the same time, her right back leg was shattered, her left, weakened. Her ribs were cracked, her magic, dying. This was her final hour, her last stretch… 

And she was falling… 

Gradually, she climbed up again, resting, half in and half out of the barrier of death, the cross tearing her soul in half, the rainbow part dying… But the other half… But it…

*It refused.

She shook her head, throwing off the illusion of sleep, and began plodding onward. Meanwhile, an old turtle looked from his shop… And caught sight of her bleeding side. 

He picked up his phone. 

“Y’ellow? Ambrose?” He said to the person on the other line. “Yeah, I think I saw her. On her way to Snowdin. Give Grillby adequate warning.” 

______________________________

The boys sat on Grillby’s floor, quietly drawing with some pencils that the elemental had lying around, scribbling quietly. It was entertaining…

Papyrus mostly used the colour blue, but Sans used purple and black basically constantly, although he very very rarely used a bright reddish purple. 

Grillby watched them, observing their small hand movements, until Sans stood up and put down his pencil. He walked back to the black case that Papyrus had brought with them.

Out of respect to the boys’ privacy, Grillby hadn’t opened the black fabric case, although curiosity smothered his flames. Now, he watched intently as Sans unzipped the case and pulled out easily the single most beautiful instrument Grillby had ever seen. 

It was small, four strings. It looked like a guitar in Sans’ hands, but Grillby could see that it was a rare, near-unheard-of instrument in the underground; A ukulele. This one was dyed blue, the wood shimmering with overtones and undertones of a deep, cold, ocean blue. Near the top was a mother of pearl inlay of a dolphin and the word ‘Luna’. There were similar dolphins surrounding the soundhole, three of them, curled in an endless, glittering loop, circling the soundboard, their personal ocean.

Sans held it in the way he was supposed to, and played a soft chord. Grillby had never been good with music, but he listened regardless. Papyrus raced over and stood in front of Sans, watching his brother’s fingers move up and down the fretboard, playing a quiet series. 

Grillby just listened, ignoring the questions that buzzed in his mind about the existence of such a beautiful object. He stared at it. Sans wasn’t great at playing it, and it was clearly made for someone of higher skill and bigger fingers, judging how much Sans was having to move. 

Instead, he just let the child play, some long-forgotten song that touched on his mind.

And brought back memories of things long past.

______________________________

Chiller wandered into Snowdin, her small, slim, swift paws sinking into the freshly fallen precipitation. Small streaks of red and black marred the swan-white snow, her body panting, exhausted.  _ Just make it to the cave… _ She thought, memory leading her in the direction of her home, where she had left her brothers, safe and sound.

The tree was still there, intact and unharmed. But something was wrong, she could tell within 10 feet. There was no movement within the small, tree-root canopy, no footprints surrounding it… And their smell was days old. Resisting her injuries, she shot forward, diving into the den, nosing through the snow, trying to find some evidence of where they were…

Nothing. 

Not a whiff of fresh scent, not a scrap of old fabric…. Even her ukulele was gone.

She dove frantically through the snow, trying to locate them, a scent, anything. Instead, the snow drank her fresh blood from reopened wounds like someone dying of thirst. Finally, exhausted, trembling and weak, she stepped from the den, heading closer to town as a storm began, wind blowing, forcing Chiller to fold down her ears and try to walk…

She collapsed, not 10 feet from the edge of town. Her body gave out, her muzzle driving into the snow. She brought up her left paw, placing it to her side, trying to boost herself to her feet, but it slipped from under her and she fell back into the snow. The wind whipped around her, making her ears quaver. As one, final, dying act, she sang out, a low calling, a ‘sorry’, to her boys, wherever they were. She sang the line again, hoping that the wind would carry her apology to her brothers. Spent, she let out a breath, allowing the cold to subject her to it’s tender mercies, her vision fading to black in an endless sea of white.

______________________________

Sans and Papyrus had be running around in their blaster forms when Sans stopped dead. 

“Brother?” Papyrus turned to him, questioning. 

“Hang on Papy…” Sans tilted his head, listening close. Papyrus stopped too… And they both jerked. The singing had been clear that time. 

“CHILLER!” Papyrus shrieked. “SHE CAME BACK!” He leapt around, turning little cartwheels with his body.

“No wait…” Sans said, listening. “Her voice is off… Something’s…. Wrong.” Sans froze. Then he whirled around and shot for the kitchen. “GRILLBY!” He shouted.

“S-Sans?” The fire elemental stared at the normally relatively quiet skeleton child who had just screamed at him. “What’s wrong?!”  _ Is Papyrus hurt?! _ The pot of spagetti that he had been making bubbled on the stove, but Grillby ignored it. 

“I-I-I…” Sans stuttered. “W-we heard her! O-our sister! I-I-I th-think she’s hurt!” He gasped, making frantic gestures with his paw-hands, midway shifting through dog and human form. His arms flapped wildly, trying to make a garbled explanation of the singing he had heard, when Papyrus, normally the hyperactive one, walked inside of the kitchen.

In a flat, calm, even voice, Papyrus turned to Grillby and asked, plain as day, “Can we please go outside?” 

Grillby, a little shocked, flinched back and turned off the burner. “S-sure Papyrus… We’ll all go out, ok?” Then Grillby looked outside. “...Maybe not today… It’s too snowy.”

“She’s there, dad.” Papyrus let that card slip and Grillby faltered. It wasn't the first time, but each one caught him off-guard. Papyrus had asked if Grillby had been their father, and Grillby said he guessed he was… But he didn’t expect the young skeleton to take it to heart.

“...We can go out and see if she’s there.” The elemental gave in. A hand, a thin, small, bony skeleton hand, fell on his. 

“She’s out there, dad.” Sans said. Grillby jumped. This was the first time Sans had ever called him dad though. 

“S-Sans..?” Grillby gasped.

“I didn’t really like you before… Or trust you…” The boy said slowly. “But… You’ve done nothing but be nice, and Papy trusts you, so…” Sans let a wry smile crack his face, grinning up with tears in his eyes. “I might as well too, dad.” The small skeleton hugged into the elemental’s chest, trying to hold back the tears that were already sneaking out. 

Grillby cried a little too, the small orange droplets of cool fire falling onto the diminutive skull. Papyrus walked over and hugged both of them. 

And so the tiny family held tight to one another, before Grillby dried his eyes and gave one final squeeze to the boys. 

“Alright… Now let’s go get your sister.”

______________________________

“-iller!” 

_ Huh…? _

“-ake up!”

_ Who’s…? _

“Chiller!” 

_...Boys..? _

The voices were hazy and faint to her tired ears, numb with cold and exhaustion. She opened her eyes, vision blurred and faint, but yet, she could see the dark, colbalt blue and the neon red of a hoodie and scarf she knew so well.  _ Sans… Papyrus… _ She thought, trying to raise her head to look at them, to smile, to prove that she was alive.

She couldn’t move, body weighed down as if with blue magic. Sans skidded on his knees in the snow, winding up beside her head. Papyrus knelt beside her chest, laying hands on her gently, like he was helping her breathe.

“Oh no no no…” He whispered, picking up her head and laying it in his lap.  _...Sans…  _ Chiller’s tired mind supplied. “DAD!” Sans shouted, running a hand down her neck. A new set of hands were lain over her body.  _...warm… _ She thought, the new hands larger and unbelievably warm against her frozen body. Someone picked her up, hugging her close to their body, the heat bleeding off them and into her. 

The last thing she remembered seeing was Papyrus and Sans, both with tears in their eyes and relieved smiles. 

“...I came home.” She had whispered, before passing into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song chiller sang was https://soundcloud.com/denny-schneidemesser/wolf-song 0:18-0:31
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4v6ClATj0A Is the Youtube link. 
> 
> It's so beautiful.


	17. Everything Stays, But It Still Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby gets a small glimpse into the Children's past...
> 
> and someone is searching for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOOO THE NEW ARK!
> 
> FUCK YEAH!
> 
> This chapter is 4096 words long I wrote it in 5 hours in the car -.-

Sans patted his older sister’s face softly, although, there was no change to her soundless, icy sleep. Grillby walked out from the kitchen, holding two platefuls of pasta, while Papyrus carried a third. 

“Nothing?” Papyrus asked, concern filling his voice. 

“Nothing… I guess you could say she’s bone tired.” Sans gave a small smile at his own pun, but none of them had the energy to do much more than let out a few semi-forced laughs. “Heh heh… I guess that… One was a little weak for me too…” Chiller shifted, letting out a small groan. She had done that many times, and they had hoped it was a sign of awakening, but it always ended in disappointment. Sans rubbed one of her small horns, the smallest one, lowest down on her neck. She settled down instantly, her torn chest rising and falling softly. Sans got off the couch, readjusting her blankets over her shoulders,  and headed over for the table. 

“Dad, do you think she’ll ever wake up?” Papyrus asked fearfully, as Sans heaved his butt up to the seat. 

“She’ll wake up, Papyrus.” Grillby said confidently, masking the fear in his voice. “Don’t work yourself up over it.”

Sans sighed, and picked at his food. It didn’t hold much interest that second.  _ What if she… Never wakes up? _

“Sans, are you alright?” Grillby asked, jolting the boy from his thoughts.

“Huh?” He asked. 

“You’ve been turning your spaghetti into mush for 20 minutes!” Papyrus practically shouted, placing down his second helping. When the boys learned there was such thing as ‘extra food’, there had been no stopping either of them. 

“O-oh yeah… Just thinking… And not in the mood for spaghetti.” Sans smirked. “If I eat any more of it, I’ll pasta-way!” He shrugged and winked, keeping with the smile.

Grillby, who had been drinking lighter fluid, the elemental version of water, choked on his mouthful of liquid and food, turning to the side as he snorted slightly. He placed his fist over his mouth.

“UUUUUGH SANS!!!” Shouted Papyrus, letting his hands drop to his sides and throwing his head back, looking at the roof.

“What bro, am I pun-ishing you?” Sans ‘finger gunned’, a movement Grillby had taught him. 

This time, Grillby really did snort the lighter fluid, his hand clapping over his mouth and nose as he tried to hold in his cackling, before excusing himself and quickly heading to the kitchen. 

“Now look you made Grillby snort his drink!” Papyrus waved an arm in the direction of the kitchen. “You go in the and apo-”

**_CRASH_ **

A lamp on Grillby’s side table, the one near his couch, crashed to the floor as Chiller burst to consciousness.

______________________________

At first, Chiller had been confused, semi blind, as she lunged to her feet in shock and horror. Her tail connected with something, and it shattered onto the floor. Shaking off the heavy and cold feeling from her bones, she tried to focus.  _ Did I get recaptured? Where am I?! Why do I feel like shit?!!!  _ Unanswered questions. 

Until a bright orange fire elemental burst in the room, staring at her in shock. 

_ Y O U _ . She thought, charging a blast in her mouth. Her magic was sluggish and slow to respond, but she started charging one anyway, consequences be damned. 

Until Papyrus stepped in front of her, limbs spread, eyes shut tight, like he was expecting her to fire at any instant. Instead, the magic died in her throat. 

No one moved, until Papyrus, chest heaving in fear and preparation, cracked open one eye… Just in time to see the magic die in his sister’s throat, and quaver in her eyes. Then her eyelights vanished and she pitched forward, off the couch. Papyrus caught her front, Sans teleporting in to catch the rest of her. 

“Chiller?!” Sans asked. 

“Chiller wake up!” Papyrus shook her a little while Grillby tried to get over the shock. She could’ve done some serious damage… But Papyrus had protected him. 

Meanwhile, though, Chiller gave a low moan, and blinked awake, getting the world to swim back into focus. Sitting above her were her younger brothers, both of whom had relatively serious expressions until she looked up at them, and smiles erupted on their faces. “You’re awake!” Papyrus said happily. 

“...I’m trying to be that way…” She hissed, and started to sit up. Everything ached. Grillby crept over. Instantly, she shot back and snarled, then groaned, slumping a little.  _ Why is the world spinning…? _ She shook her head, but that only made it worse. She started to settle down, against her will, her body forcing her down. Sans grabbed her head and gently started rubbing a horn. 

“It’s ok, big Sis…. That’s just Grillby.” He said, directing her vision at the fire elemental.

“Hello, Chiller.” Said the elemental, holding out his hand. Taking it as an invitation, She leaned forward and sniffed his fingers.  _...At least he knows how to treat a cat monster… _ She thought, but that soon swirled away, and she flinched. 

“C-Chills? What’s wrong?” Sans asked. 

“Head… Hurts…” She gritted out. 

“You have a fever, and many serious injuries.” The elemental’s voice was like the soft crackle of flames, with the hushed undertone of wind. The wind was Grillby’s personal end of his voice, entirely unique to him. Only Chiller’s ears could really pick it out, and in her head, she separated his voice from all other elementals she would meet. He placed a warm hand against her head, and her fevered body, cold and shivery, leaned into the heat, trying to warm herself. Gently, Grillby edged forward and placed his other hand on her back. He had done his best to bandage all the injuries, but he had to call a doctor for her. “Listen, ok?” He stroked a hand down the sharp, stabby ridges of her spine. “You go rest on the couch, I’m going to call the doctor.” 

((Author’s note; And, in a little manner of speaking called ‘out of character’, that was the moment, dear readers, when, as they say, the shit that hit the fan, hit a second fan.))

Papyrus paled, taking a step away from Grillby. “N-NO!” He stuttered, shaking his head violently.

Sans jumped back, his left eye turning into a cyan-bleeding magic glow, raising one shaking hand against the fire monster, a faint blue shimmer in the air behind his head. “A-a-a-anyo-one bu-but the D-D-D-Doctor!” He hissed fearfully, eye sockets wide and terrified

What was scariest though, was Chiller. She fired off the floor like a gunshot, paws slamming into his shoulders, throwing him backwards, her landing on top, inch-long claws sliding out of all four paws while she snarled in his face. The 7 foot long bone cat stood, growling, overtop of him. Her magic, already weak and overworked, created a weak light in the back of her neck and a purple smoke that leaked from between her teeth. Grillby couldn’t move. “ **N E V E R. T H E. D O C T O R.** ” Chiller whispered, a near-hiss, but no less of a threat. Someone had hurt these kids… Badly. 

“I-I meant the healer! S-she can help you feel better…” Grillby crackled out, frightened. 

The three of them stopped. The teal light behind Sans vanished, and color started to come back to Papyrus’ face. 

Chiller’s snarl faded, and she stepped off of Grillby, shaking slightly. She was exhausted, trembling, as she backed off the fire elemental. Grillby sat up slowly, watching all three of the children as all of them watched him too. “I-it’s alright… S-she won’t hurt you.” Grillby insisted as Chiller walked closer to her brothers, settling down beside them. The elemental slowly got to his feet. 

“...Never him.” Sans growled. “Never again.” His left eye flickered a threatening teal before he hugged Papy, who was trembling. The Pre-...Chiller’s cold stare tracked him down, staring at his soul… His CORE.

“Never him.” Grillby agreed. “Promise.” 

_ But who is ‘him?’ _

______________________________

The call to the ‘healer’, as Grillby called her around the children, had gone smoothly, but Chiller’s fever had worsened overnight. The stress of attacking Grillby had broken her healing routine.

She now lay, shivering like a leaf in a snowstorm, on the couch. Sans and Papyrus played quietly below her, every so often patting her head or giving another comfort. A literal mound of blankets in the middle of Grillby’s couch, the sad cat lay, essentially limp, leaning against Grillby for warmth while the group waited for the healer to arrive. 

A soft few knocks on the door set everyone into motion. Grillby got off the couch to get the door, and the boys scattered, Chiller summoning the strength to bring herself to a sitting position, to glare at the door. 

_ If looks could kill… _ Grillby thought, feeling the furious predator staring into his back, through him, eyes burning holes through his body to watch the door, as he slowly pulled it open. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Miranda.” Grillby said softly. Miranda nodded, smiling.

“Anytime, Grillbs.” The half-salamander said, patting his shoulder. “I heard there were… Complications, with these two?” Her fin like ears arched up in implication. 

There had been some… Minor checkups done on the boys, which told of ungodly torture and experimentation of the two of them. Grillby was more concerned about their health for the moment, though, so a real investigation would need to wait. Plus, Grillby had informed Miranda about the boys’ fear and Chiller’s blatant untrusting attitude. The only reason Miranda had been chosen over a doctor closer to town, was that her specialty was predators, middle aged predators. The most volatile kind. 

She would know exactly how to handle Chiller. 

“They’re just over here…” Grillby lead her into the living room. Chiller hadn’t moved, probably too exhausted and sick to, but the boys had vanished. Grillby had left a small space behind his couch, dark and quiet, for the boys to hide in. Sans often slept back there, unless Papyrus dragged him out. 

Grillby quietly peeked into the small area. There were the boys, pressed together in the back, watching fearfully. The elemental sighed, like wind, and stepped away.

“Being shy, are they?” Miranda smiled. “I wonder, do any of them have a funny bone?” 

No movement behind the couch, but Grillby could feel Sans’ fear start to fade… And Papyrus’ magical pressure spike.

“No answer? Because I have a skele _ ton _ of jokes.” Miranda smirked.

Grillby snorted a little. So did Sans… but Papyrus started grating his teeth. Chiller made no movement, only stared at the healing monster with a cold, cynical glare.

“They’re pretty  _ pun _ derful.” A slight snicker. “You said their names were Sans and Papyrus, right?” She leaned over to Grillby to ask. When he nodded, she went on. “My name’s Miranda. I’m a pretty  _ Sans _ itive person. Although, I’ve got no bones about medic jokes.” 

Small, slightly concealed giggles rang out as Papyrus marched from behind the couch, strutted up to Miranda, and papped her leg.

“NO! NO PUNS!” He barked, repeatedly patting her leg scales. 

“Well, your brother seemed to like them.” She gave a toothy grin.

“HE’S BAD TOO!” 

“You sure bro?” Sans peeked from behind the couch. “I thought that nothing got under your skin!” 

“SAAAAAAANS!!” Papyrus stomped his feet a few times, hands in tight little fists by his sides. “YOU’VE USED THAT ONE BEFORE!!” An accusing finger stabbed at his brother, before he marched over and grabbed the back of Sans’ hoodie, dragging his brother from behind the couch. 

“Wha- P-Papy!” Gasped Sans as he was ungainly hauled from the back of the couch. 

“Apologize for your awful puns!” Papyrus demanded as he placed his brother in front of the healer. And then they both realized where they were. 

Both of them took a slight step back, going white as sheets, and looked up at Miranda. 

“Hello boys.” The salamander knelt down, and met the boys at head level. Sans made a small noise, somewhere between a whimper and a growl. Gently, she held out a hand. “My name is Miranda. I’m a healer. I’m here to help you and your sister feel better.” She smiled softly.

Gently, Papyrus placed his hand in her’s, feeling the scales in the palm of the salamander’s paw. 

“H-hello…” He said shyly. “I-I’m Papyrus.” 

“Hello Papyrus.” She smiled at him.

“....’m Sans…” Sans slowly stood up and offered a hand to her. 

“Good work boys.” Chiller said from the sidelines. 

_ Did she… Teach them how to act like monsters while they were in the labs?  _ Grillby couldn’t help but wonder.

Chiller’s very presence seemed to fix a lot of unease and tension. The boys were more confident, less shy, and they remembered the remainder of their manners. 

“Hi Sans.” She smiled a little wider for him. Sans’ grin widened too. 

It didn’t take all that long to get them situated on the couch. “Who wants to go first?” Miranda asked, glowing. 

None of them moved. 

“I’ll go!” Papyrus jumped up, a determined expression on his face. He walked to the opposite couch and scrambled up to sit beside Miranda. 

“Alright Papyrus,” She laughed. “you can go first.” Gently, she pulled out a small thermometer and handed it to him. “Do you know what this is?”

“Yeah! It’s a ther-mom-iter!” Papyrus bounced in his seat. If there was one thing Gaster never let him do during experiments and examinations, it was hold the instruments. 

“Good job Papyrus! Do you know what it does?” 

“It measures temperature!” Papyrus flipped it over, reading the labels on the back. 

“Very good!” She clapped a little. Miranda did tend to be overexcitable. 

_ Her daughter is so similar… _ Grillby thought. 

“Alright, Papyrus, we’re gonna measure your temperature, alright?”

“Ok!”

The whole process went pretty smoothly, except for a small roadblock when the magical pressure cuff came out, but, once explained, there were no issues there either. 

The only major bump was when Miranda took out a small screen that looked a little like a tablet. “Papyrus, I need to take a look at your soul, ok?” She flashed a winning smile. 

“M-my soul?” Papyrus said in shock. “B-but…” He covered the lower left of his chest. 

_ Where his soul is… _ Grillby realized. 

“Can you take off your shirt?” Miranda said quietly, sensing his unease. Chiller had sat up. Sans’ eye had given a flicker.

“...o-ok…” Papyrus said slowly, and took off the shirt Grillby had given him. When Miranda held out her hand, Papyrus cringed away. “Please don’t take it out!” He shouted.

Miranda jerked back. “Oh no, Papyrus! I don’t want to take it out! I wanted to know if you would hold my hand.” She said.

“O-oh!” Papyrus realized. “I-I’m sorry…Are you scared too?”

“Um, yeah!” She answered quickly. “I haven’t done this much.” She lied. 

“O-ok!” Papyrus took her hand. “I, Papyrus, will help you get over your fear!” He puffed out his chest, coated in tiny pits and marks, and made a grand hand gesture. 

Miranda laughed. “Ok, Papyrus, but personally, I think that would work better if you said ‘the great Papyrus.”

“Ok! I, The GREAT PAPYRUS, will help you get over your fear.” Grillby smiled as the young skeleton proclaimed his name. 

The soul examination and physical went well, and Sans went next. His went about the same as Papyrus’, a little more quiet and less questions, and no problems. Having watched Papyrus, he knew what to expect.  During the soul exam and physical, Miranda’s eyebrows narrowed momentarily, but she soon brightened. Both the boys’ chests had been a disaster.

“Alright, time for your big sister.” Miranda said. 

“Is her’s going to be like Sans and I’s?” Papyrus asked.

“Not really, since she walks on four paws.” The salamander smiled.

“If it’s too much trouble, I can shift.” Chiller’s voice was rough and worn, gravelly and faint. 

“You don’t have to, I can examine you like this.” 

“It’s ok… I can manage it.” Chiller gritted out, and her whole form glowed a faint purple, but it was her face that cracked first. 

When the first snap of bone rang out, Grillby and Miranda both winced. Chiller’s teeth locked, in obvious pain. Grillby had seen Sans and Papyrus shift into their alternate forms, and it was always like they turned certain parts into jelly and then reformed.

It never sounded like anything broke.

Chiller’s face had one long crack that went from just in front of her eyes all around her muzzle. The split separated, and maybe three more cracks appeared along the sides of her face. Her muzzle collapsed inward, reforming and remolding into her face. Her face was now a short cat’s muzzle, rather than the wolffish form she normally had. Her hip-bone shattered, along a set of wicked scars, and tore apart, reforming into an upright stance. She raised her paws, and focused. The ‘skin’ along her paws split, forming around her phalanges, her dewclaw shifting forward and becoming her thumb. The cracks sealed, and black magic started to coat her form, shimmery and plain, taking form of a hoodie and tight pants. When it reached her lower section of her ribs, it stopped, and she shuddered slightly. Then she swallowed, and the magic completed it’s formation, becoming opaque, then tangible. She let out a long breath when it was over. 

“You didn’t do your coat!” Papyrus stated, almost accusatory. Neither of the brothers had flinched during Chiller’s shift.

“Not today, Papy. That thing gets in the way pretty fast.” She smiled as best she could, before starting to cough violently. On the front of her sweater, the design she always carried flickered to life in the dead centre of her chest. “Good-” She coughed. “To know- that still- works!” The coughing fit seemed only worsened by her recent use of magic. 

“Um… Wow…” Miranda seemed fairly amazed. “That makes things a little easier.” 

Up until the physical and soul, Chiller’s examination had gone nearly the exact same way as Sans and Papyrus’...

With one, major difference.

“Alright, now, since you’re a predator, I need to do a few other things.”

“...Uh huh?” Chiller took a long look at her.

“Iron concentration in your magic, the density and length of your claws and the length of your fangs.” 

Chiller looked only a little happy on the outside, but Sans and Papyrus could physically feel her joy, coming off her normally rather cold and black magic in waves. The most vicious and beautiful pieces of herself, as she thought of them, were never looked at except when they were a threat. Never for examination.

“Ok.” She smirked. 

“We’ll start with claws.” Said Miranda, and Chiller held out her hand. “That is, if you can summon claws in this f-” She stopped when she saw the inch long slicers curl from her fingers. “Huh… No wonder you don’t have any fingernails.” Miranda took Chiller’s hand and a pair of calipers, gently measuring each claw and then writing the measurement down. “Average foreclaw length… 1.82 inches…” Miranda said as she looked over the long white razors. Chiller gave a satisfied purr. “Alright, back claws.” The process was repeated. “Average rear claw length… 2.2 inches.” She took a small tweezer and squeezed the edge of one claw, counting under her breath. Then, Miranda removed the tweezers and took a look at the dents she had made. “No cracking… That’s good, not overexposed… But slight denting, so a little calcium deficient. Easily fixable.” She nodded, and put away the tweezers. 

“Fang time?” Chiller asked. 

“Fang time.” Miranda nodded. 

Chiller opened her mouth… And her fangs weren’t there. “Huh?” Miranda stared at the spaces where they should’ve been. “They aren’t the-” They swung down, like switchblades from the roof of her mouth. “Whoa!” Miranda jerked back. “Foldable, like a snake’s fangs!” She gasped, and measured the bright fangs. “Average, 2.48 inches.”

With that out of the way, Miranda made a small gesture and said easily,”Alright, soul and physical!” 

Chiller flicked her wrist… And her hoodie melted away.

All four of the others flinched and looked elsewhere momentarily, Chiller included, slowly, without flinching. The bone cat let out a long, quiet breath. 

Her entire upper body was coated in scratches, cuts, marks and pits, bruises, dents and cracks, far worse than either of her brother’s injuries. Miranda softly touched one of the less recent cracks, and Chiller shut her eyes with a slight wince. Her facial expression never shifted and she never moved, but her entire body seemed to scrunch up, guilty. “...” Chiller reopened one eye a slit.

“Chiller…” Miranda breathed. “Who… Did this?” There was nothing about the marks that was unintentional. 

“...His name is Gaster,” She began, prompting shocked looks from Grillby and Miranda, both of whom knew about the royal scientist. “and besides being the most evil bitch to ever step out of bitchtown, he is our creator.” Both the boys looked away as she spoke, clear and solid. “He made us to… break the barrier. Unfortunately, that didn’t go as planned, and we got sick of our treatment.” She left out a lot of major details, but enough to satisfy them for now. 

The second blatant shock came when the small soul-scan screen came out. Chiller near instantly went to reform her hoodie. 

“Whoa, um… Something wrong?” Miranda asked, as the transparent grey started to cover her upper body. 

“...Nothing.” Chiller swallowed her fear and let the grey vanish. 

Miranda held up the soul reader, sitting on the couch with Chiller…

She turned it on…

And dropped it, the small screen bouncing slightly on the couch.

“O-oh… My god…” Whispered Miranda. 

The dripping black half of her soul was invisible on the scan. It looked like her soul had been sliced in two jagged halves. Miranda picked up the screen again and took another look. “Yo-you’re missing… Half your soul…” 

“Wait what?” Chiller looked at the screen. “Oh. Oh… That’s… Not how it is.” She whispered, and lay a paw over her chest. She pulled out her soul… 

And the room fell silent.

______________________________

The trio vanished into thin air once the examination was complete. Chiller had gone, probably upstairs, in a bolt of energy and ill fear. 

The boys vanished too. 

Miranda, at the entryway, pulled Grillby down to her face level. “Listen here… Those kid’s stats? Are semi-impossible. Chiller’s certainly, Sans’ are so wrong it’s right, and Papyrus is normal. Grillbs, Sans had 1 HP! ONE!” She whisper-hissed. “And half of Chiller’s soul was comprised of BLACK!” 

“I know Miranda, it was terrify-” Grillbs began.

“I’ll be sending my full report in three days.” She opened the door, stepping out into the cold, before pausing. She turned back. “...Make sure no harm comes to those kids, Grillby, and make sure whoever did that to them… Make sure they pay.” 

And the door closed. 

______________________________

Gaster sorted through his files frantically, commanding all his assistants to find the experiments. If the king or another monster found them before he did...

“I WANT THEM BACK!” He had roared. “NOW!” 

It had been terrifying to watch… And now, going through his files, he realized that one, just one, was gone. 

A single file, thick, fat and heavy, was gone from a folder. 

Year 1; WDG-BDS Class 00, Exp. C.

Gaster picked up the cabinet with magic and threw it across the room, roaring with rage, the massive clang and the disaster of scattered paper spreading across the scientist’s quarters, drawing other scientists to see what was wrong. 

Gaster had no explanation, only rage.

Only fury.

Only hate.

Only chaos.

Only… alone.

Only alone could he solve this.

He ushered them out, making frantic, angry gestures. 

Meanwhile, Chiller took her medication without much difficulty from Grillby, right before Papyrus walked up and held out a black case to her. 

“I… Kept it safe.” 

Grillby realized instantly.  _ It's her… She plays the ukulele! _

“Thanks Papy…” Chiller already sounded sleepy, the medication doing it’s job. She set it by the side, but not before gently patting the space behind the uke… Feeling a rectangular, large wad underneath it. 

_ It’s still there. _ She breathed a sigh of relief, laying down her head onto the couch softly.  _ They want to know what happened? Fine. I can give them what happened. _ She thought, sleep gently embracing her, carrying her into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS SO LONG UUUUUUGH


	18. And He’s Grey, His Hair, His Smoke, His Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiller is intimidating. And terrifying. And oh yay we lead up to nightmares and cliffhangers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD LONGASS CHAPTERS WILL BE MY DEATH

Alphys impatiently tapped on her phone screen, playing Swimmy Fish. She was on level 136, the highest she had ever gotten in this ridiculous game, and the coral was starting to move up and down, adding to the ever-increasing difficulty of sliding the small fish through the tiny gaps without touching anything. 

“ALPHYS!” The cry made her jump about four feet, missing a key tap and sending the fish to the sandy bottom of the digital ocean. 

“Aw come on…” Alphys whispered. “Y-y-yes U-Undyne?” She returned, picking up her phone. 

“THEY FOUND THE BOYS!” Undyne shrieked from the next room.

“WHAT?!” Alphys shot up, barely catching her phone a second time, before shooting for the door to the other room.

______________________________

Chiller was sitting on the couch, having just taken her medication. All three of them had, but none had been as strong as Chiller’s and as such, she was pretty loopy after she took them. The boys raced around on the floor, play fighting in their dog forms, barking and chasing. 

Finally, Sans hopped up on the couch beside his sister, who was barely remaining conscious. 

“Chiller?” He asked, as Papyrus ran to find another toy. 

“...Yes Sans?” She answered slowly, a little slurred, her eyelights white, but still slitted. She was tired, but not exhausted. More a drugged lapse. 

“Are you alright?” He asked, patting her shoulder. 

“...Sorta…” She mumbled. 

“...What are we gonna do, sis?” He asked. She gave him a small, surprised glance. 

“...What we’ve always done. Survive.”  

“But… Aren’t we safe now?” Sans gave her a questioning look.

“Sans,” She began, her eyes flashing purple. “we aren’t safe until Gaster is dead.”

Sans let out a tiny whimper. “U-until h-he’s d-dead?”

“Yes, Sans. Until he’s dead.”

“Boys!” Grillby called loudly from the kitchen. “There’s someone on the phone for you!”

Chiller managed to blink fully awake for a second. She sat up, eyes blinking once and staying a lilac purple. It was light and small, but consistent. She unfolded her legs, placing them on the floor, as Sans unshifted from his four pawed form. He stood up as well. Papyrus was already in the kitchen, as the other two padded in slowly. Chiller still had her hoodie and tight pants on, forgoing her long coat for a far more… Easy to wear outfit. 

The three looked up to their adoptive father, who was wearing a massive grin on his flame-y face. “It’s your friends.” He held out the phone to Sans, since Chiller had the blanket on, wrapped tightly around her slim frame. After taking her medication, which she had firmly resisted at first, she was often cold and tired. The combo made for a rough few hours afterward.

Sans reached out and took the phone, pressing it to his non-existent ears. “H-hello?” He said softly. Since Papyrus had an unforeseen obsession with the phone, Grillby had deemed it appropriate to teach the three how to answer and use it. 

“S-Sans?! Yo-you’re ok!” Alphys’ voice rang through the speakers. 

“A-A-Alphys!” Sans gasped, almost crying at her very voice. They were ok!

“O-oh my god, are y-you alright? W-where are y-you?!” She called, sounding like she might cry as well.

“IS PAPYRUS THERE?!” A voice cried in the background. The distinctive sound of an energy spear hitting stone could be heard.

“Oh my god…” Sans pressed a hand to his mouth, his eyes closing tight, lightly glowing blue tears sneaking out of his eye sockets.  _ They made it away from the guard! They’re ok! We’re all ok! _ He thought. “Undyne too…” He whispered, sinking to the floor. 

“UNDYNE?!” Papyrus yelled. “UNDYNE YOU’RE THERE!!!” He shouted, snapping the phone from his brother’s grasp as Sans tried to recover. “UndyneI’msogladyou’reokwewerereallyworriedthereweresomanyguardsandwebarelymanagedtogetoutourselveshowareyouhowisAlphys?!” He said, so unbelievably fast it was almost unintelligible. 

“Yes Papyrus we’re ok! Are you?! I mean, we didn’t need to get away, so much as we had to stop them from chasing you!” Undyne had heard every word of what he said, overjoyed that he was ok. 

“Yes! Grillby’s taking care of us!” Papyrus turned to face the fire elemental, smile bright and almost impossibly wide.

“I heard that Chiller went missing is she alright?” Undyne was in a state of concerned excitement.

“Yes! She made it home! She’s a little sick, but she’ll be ok!” Papyrus’ voice could barely portray his happiness. The first people who had helped them, his first friend… Was here, talking to him. “Here, do you want to talk to her?” 

“Sure!” Said Undyne. Papyrus handed the phone to Chiller, who happened to be leaning by the sidelines.

“Hello?” Chiller’s voice was strained and low, gravelly and cold. She was tired-sounding, like a permanent exhaustion had taken over her voice. 

“CHILLER!” Undyne roared. Chiller’s ears snapped back and she winced. The terrifying horns had been fused together more or less constantly the time she was at Grillby’s, and as such, only made her more sensitive to sound. “YOU’RE OK!!”

“Yes,” She gritted out. “I’m fine. Please stop yelling it hurts my ears.” Her voice sounded gritty, like she had sandpaper for a throat.

“Oh!” Undyne gasped, a little quieter. “Sorry, Chiller… I forgot about your ears. How are you doing?” Undyne said softly.  _ Much better. _ Thought Chiller. 

“I’m alive.” Chiller gave a grim smirk, that Undyne could feel through the phone. “Magic’s weak, I’m constantly cold… And tired. Very tired. It hurts less though.” She rowled, her normal purr turned into a semi-growl. 

“I’d say. You sound like you swallowed gravel from Waterfall.” Undyne tried to sound cheery, but it came out a little pitying. 

“It’s not that easy to talk, but I’m managing. I’ll need to wait a while before I can sing, though.” She coughed a little.

“Wait, you sing?” Undyne asked.

“Yeah, you think that uke was Papyrus’?” She glanced at her youngest brother, and smirked playfully as Papyrus growled. “It’s mine.”

“Alright let me talk to her!” Papyrus demanded. Chiller laughed roughly, handing the phone back to Papyrus before starting a coughing fit. Grillby walked over and gently helped support her upper back and neck, helping her breath. 

“H-hey Undyne, I want to talk to Sans.” Alphys said, somewhere in the background. It sounded like she had been crying. Sans sniffled on the floor. 

“Ok, Alph. Hey Paps, could you hand the phone to your brother?” She said calmly. 

“Sure, Undyne!” Papyrus handed the phone to Sans.

______________________________

The whole time that Undyne had been talking to the boys and Chiller, Alphys had been trying not to cry in relief and failing.

Now, she took the phone from her best friend to talk to her new friend. “S-Sans, a-are you there?” Alphys asked, tears filling her voice.

“I-I’m here, Alphys. Are you ok?” Sans’ voice was a little watery, as if he had been crying too.

“I’m g-good Sans. We-we’re gonna make sure Gaster will never hurt you again!” She said, determined.

“R-really?” Sans said incredulusly.

“Y-yes really! N-never again! W-we just… Need… Evidence…” She slowed down. “The Royal Guard is sending Undyne’s Dad to come and do an in-vest-ig-ation.” She stuttered out. 

“In...vest...ig...ation…” Sans repeated. Somewhere in the background, a low, dull thrum of a growl started. “O-ok Alphys… I trust you.” 

“A-alright Sans… Then I-I’ll probably see you then.” She gave a weak smile.

“O-ok Alphys… Goodbye.” His smile shone through in his voice.

“Goodbye Sans.” She hung up the phone, and turned back to Undyne. “They’re ok…” She lunged forward and hugged the nymph. “T-they’re ok…” She smiled wide, starting to cry again.

______________________________

It was several days before the scheduled investigation. During that time, Chiller had become increasingly active and resilient, although, her ribs were healing stubbornly. The doctors, to try and aid the healing process, surgically grafted a fake-bone sternum to her ribs.

She tore it out. Said it ‘reminded her of something.’

Miranda came over with the test results and portfolios, which Grillby read through, even though they freaked him out a bit. Chiller’s readings were off the charts, and the doctors were even unable to identify her LV, although, they garunteed that it was high. Like, questioningly high. 

Sans was also freakish. 1 HP, 1 ATK, 1 DEF… LV 15. It was… Strange, seeing a child with stats as low as his, and yet, such high LV.

Papyrus was fairly normal for his age, although his LV was a little higher than normal. 75 HP, 10 ATK, 15 DEF, LV 10. Decent stats for a 8 year old. 

The day the investigation came, Alphys and Undyne got to see the boys again.

The four lunged at eachother, shouting and hugging, although the shouting was mostly done by Papyrus and Undyne. Chiller remained back. 

It had been a while, and she had changed. A lot. She wasn’t wearing a hoodie, for one. She was in her upright form, in a pair of long, tight black pants with a white pattern on them that looked like lightning. Her shirt was dark grey, her emblem on the back. The sleeves went down to a little past the middle of her forearm, not tight, but not exactly loose either. A golden zipper ran up the left side, beginning a side-flap of fabric. Around the neck was an extra flap of fabric, that looked a lot like a sewn-in scarf. It fitted to the rest of her slim body easily, the semi-loose fabric warm and gentle. She was leaning against the wall, casting an icy, calculating glare at Ambrose and the girls.

Sans had on the same sweater he always did, but he was wearing a pair of grey jeans. Papyrus had on a new orange shortsleeve shirt, but it had a print on it that read ‘Bone to Be Wild.’ It was painted in white. It looked as though Chiller had painted it on his shirt. The young skeleton bore it proudly, despite the pun. On the back was a drawing of Papyrus’ blaster form’s head, all sharp spikes and fierce power. 

Ambrose, not in his armour, came in as well, followed by Deltic, Alphys’ father. Deltic was a psychological investigator, who worked frequently with Ambrose. He was a light, easy, sunlight yellow, with a deep golden belly. Green stripes highlighted his distinctively shimmery scales. 

The pair walked over to the skeleton siblings, and Ambrose knelt down out of respect to the boys. He didn’t need to really with Chiller, who was less than a foot shorter than the tall salamander monster. She watched him with cold, decerning eyes. Despite being one himself, Deltic deemed that he strictly didn’t like this predator. There was something off about the young hunter that threw him. It didn’t help that she had summoned a small bone with the end cut off, sharpened and pointed like a knife, and was now spinning it around in her hand, weaving it between her fingers and flipping it around her hand. 

“Hello, boys and girl.” Ambrose smiled at them. Despite being the hardy captain of the guard, Ambrose was a big softie at heart. “My name is Ambrose. I’m Undyne’s dad.” The nymph herself was busy flipping a ball of magic in between palms beside her father.

Chiller’s hand closed tight around the handle of her blade. The cynical violet eyes watched the older salamander’s every move, and the older lizard’s. 

Everyone sat at the table, preparing for their talk. Chiller hadn’t put down the knife, despite Grillby’s requests. It remained in her right hand, being continually moved between her fingers.

Deltic leaned over to Ambrose as the kids got themselves situated. 

“I believe what Chiller is attempting to do is… Intimidation.” He said quietly. 

“Yes.” Agreed Ambrose. The other predator’s cold stare never left them. 

“Worst part is that it’s working.” Deltic murmured. Ambrose gave a slightly sarcastic smile and snort of amusement. Although, he was still looking warily at the tall teenager. 

It took about 10 minutes into the investigation for everyone to realize exactly how little they could pin on Gaster.

“It’s just… We have evidence that the kids were created and abused, but nothing on Gaster exactly.” Ambrose hissed. “And without evidence for Gaster… All we’ve got is your word against his. And if he’s doing illegal experimentation, he probably has the evidence hidden and locked away.”

A dull, loud  _ thunk  _ noise sounded around the table. Everyone jumped. Chiller had driven her knife nearly two inches through Grillby’s table. 

“I may be able to help with that.” She said, speaking for the first time. She looked at the younger children. “You guys go play. The adults and I are going to have a… Chat.” She gave a low growl. All four of their young, still semi-innocent faces turned grave and dark. Sans nodded, and lead the group away from the table, into the next room.

All of the adults turned to give her strange looks. She leaned down and pulled out her ukulele case.

“Hah, what are you gonna do, sing us a s-” Ambrose began.

“Sh.” Deltic cut him off. 

She cast a long, unreadable glare at Ambrose, before she unzipped the case, pulling out a large, fat file. It was labeled in clear black. 

Year 1; WDG-BDS Class 00, Exp. C.

“Chiller… What is that?” Grillby asked. 

“My file. I figured it would be the best one to grab at the time.” She said, low and quiet. When they had fought Gaster in the archive room, she had taken her only file. The only one she knew the location of. 

Gently, she opened up the file, and pulled out the first page. In it was a pinned picture of a soul, a purple, red, blue and light blue soul. She looked it over, glancing repeatedly up to Deltic and Ambrose. After she had supposedly deemed it safe for them to look at, she passed it over to them. 

Ambrose took it, and began to read it over. “Log date 1-0-1-2xxx.” He started. “‘It has come to my attention that the original DT experiments were failures, however, it did result in the knowledge of a process to create a soul. I suppose it could be considered artificial, but at the same time, it was made from…’” He paused. “‘Part of my soul?’ Gaster used some of his own soul to create you guys?!” He turned to face her incredulously. She made a small gesture with her hand, indicating to keep reading. 

Ambrose looked sceptical, but kept reading. “‘The result was a mixture of colours, few of which belong to me. I used a little bit of DT to stabilize the reaction, and the result appears to be a powerful, intense and strangely stable soul.’” Ambrose blinked. “‘Strangely Stable?!’ Does that mean that… The previous souls weren’t stable!?!” The salamander demanded. 

“...Just read two-seventeen, paragraph one.” She sighed and handed him a different page, taking back the other one. This page had a clipping of a very young looking Chiller, in a containment tube. Wires and tubes streaked off her diminutive form.

“‘Today, I took another look at C-0’s soul.’ He referred… To you as..” The captain couldn't entirely believe what he was reading. Chiller looked away. “‘It’s shaping up nicely, even though I am a cross between concerned and scared about her awakening. I wasn’t exactly surprised when she woke up, but then her focusing on my soul… I’m not sure how much I like this plan anymore.’ He was unsure… This is…’Whatever, I need to make some sacrifices if I ever want to help monsterkind. Most, if not all of my Purple ability has vanished, and all of my Green is gone. I still have all my previous use of Blue and Yellow, but my Light Blue has diminished somewhat. I wish to- Nevermind, I’m not studying myself here.’” Ambrose cut off. She pushed the remainder of the files at him. Grillby and Deltic leaned in to see the results. 

Mentally, Chiller took notes. At page 6, Ambrose passed the file to Deltic, even if he didn’t look away. At page 13, Grillby turned away and gagged. At page 21, Ambrose sat back, also looking a little green around the gills. At page 39, Deltic closed the file, and slid it back to Chiller, looking at her with a cross between queezyness and pity. 

She glared at the lizard with vicious contempt.  _ I don’t need your pity. _ He looked away from her immediately. 

“...Do you have the information you need?” She snarled icily, the tone of her voice never changing from a cool monotone, but the intent was all there, perfectly portrayed by the lack of emotion.

“I’d like this file, or at least copies of.” Deltic said slowly. 

“You may take the file and make copies of it,” She pushed it back at him. Deltic recoiled slightly as if it was poisonous. “but I have conditions.”

Deltic’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. Chiller continued. “One; when Gaster’s in jail, I want it back.” She hissed. “You can keep the copies, but I want the original file back. Two; don’t release my name. At all. The file refers to me as C-0. Leave it that way.” Her voice was low, quiet. Deadly serious. “Three; I can take you to the laboratory where the rest of the information is, but my brother’s files and any mention of them in any other file is never, NEVER released. Ever. I want their files and all mentions of them. To the rest of the universe, the fact that they were part of this is a lie.” She yanked her knife from the table. “Four; All information on my hunting, the real reason I was created… Does not get released.” She stopped. “And if you break my rules…” She snarled, tone and words implying that these were no longer just conditions. She leaned upward, pulling up, overtop of those of them still sitting. “I’ll show you E X A C T L Y why my level is so damn high. Capīce?” Her eyes darkened, the lights starting to streak purple energy. 

Ambrose had dealt with criminals twice his size and had stood up to their intimidation. He did it constantly with the new recruits, barking at them until they obeyed. But being under the intense gaze of a vicious, teenage, protective, and built predator unnerved him.  _ Maybe it’s the fact that I am an omniv-... Nevermind…  _ Taking a quick glance to Deltic and he realized that it was just her. Deltic was about her size, a few inches taller, but yet the far more experienced (but now Ambrose had to consider,  _ was _ Deltic more experienced?) and seasoned (again, was he?) predator was shaking slightly under the fierce, permanent, somehow ancient look of the younger hunter. 

Chiller sat back with a slight smirk. “Glad we had this talk.” She stood up, swung her ukulele over her back, and walked upstairs. 

A little while after they arrived, the rest of the guard had assisted in fitting the two of Grillby’s extra bedrooms into the kid’s rooms. Chiller had gotten one to herself, the boys shared one. 

She entered the room, opening the door softly, placing her uke along the wall.  _ That was exhausting.  _ She thought as she lay in her bed. She hadn’t entirely known where the terrifying predator moment had come from, but it worked. They would be taking her ‘conditions’ into consideration. Serious consideration. 

She doubted that she’d really ever need to fight either one of them, but it was a possibility. And to protect her brothers, she would. And she could win. She knew it.

Downstairs, she heard the younger siblings coming back into the room. Sans asked where she was. Grillby’s reply was muted, but no one came upstairs. Chiller flipped over, aligning in a semi-crunched, half curled position on her left side, facing the wall. She was kind of proud of herself. The whole time, she could feel the drugs pressing into her mind, gnawing at her will to do anything, but she had powered through, even summoned enough of her former self to intimidate the Captain of the Royal Guard and a detective. 

She couldn’t help the tired grin that spread across her face.

_ They… Can’t… ignore me… anymore… _ She thought as she passed into a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiller's terrifying.


	19. And I Will Haunt Your Fucking Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT IM SORRY THIS IS LATE
> 
> I HAD THIS WRITTEN
> 
> AND THEN SHIT HAPPENED
> 
> IM SO SORRY

Chiller stood in a cold grey hallway, staring at Gaster. Her feet were firmly planted, observing, watching, waiting. He took a step forward, and she lunged. Her claws glanced across the floor, barely touching before she had fired into the next bound. She leapt for Gaster, but just as she was about to claw at his face, blue gripped to her soul. She called out to her black ability to shatter it, but nothing replied.

 

_ Wh-what?! _ She thought, frightened. Her most devastating ability… Gone. 

 

She struggled as Gaster smashed her into wall after wall. Battered and broken, she was tossed behind a wall, just as the door shut and Gaster walked up to her brothers.

 

The floor, walls… Everything was white. All there was, was a long stick leaning against the wall. She morphed into her upright form, and took the stick in her hands. The transformation had hurt, but losing her brothers hurt more. The wooden pole was firm and smooth in her hands. She walked across the cold floor, feeling as it seemed to echo her hate beneath unending chaos. In her rage, she brought up the end of the stick and drove it into the floor. 

 

Chiller stepped back… Under where she had hit had turned a violent, evil black, calling to her soul beneath layer upon layer of pain. 

 

She dipped the end of her stick into the angry stripe of black, and pulled it out in a wide sweep, guiding the color across the white floor. It created a streaked, deep purple line, like a paintbrush across the canvas. Chiller’s eyes narrowed, and she pulled the blob again, trying to smooth it out. The streaks changed color just slightly, green, blue, red… All so dark they were nearly black. She sidestepped the lines she had already made, pulling and overlapping them, shaping them. All that was in her mind was the brutal hate, the rage of Gaster and her brothers. The shape swirled, rounded and bubbled at the top, sharp and tipped at the bottom. It was only half a shape though, and so she kept at it. 

 

She flipped the stick around, swishing it again… But this time, her thoughts drifted from hate, to the sheer force that kept her sane. The rock solid integrity that resided at her core. Different, medium-dark shades of Royal Blue swirled through the area, winding, yet stable. 

 

As she did that, her feet and tip of the stick drifted to the base of the shape, the point, forming into a wishful thinking, a way to stabilize herself. She had to stabilize herself. For her brothers. Chiller’s color changed from a set blue to a vengeful violet, the colours overlapping and spinning into a web of fury and perseverance. She danced around her pole, pawsteps planned and careful. She guided it forward, her tail dancing around her paws as claws slid from her fingertips to sink into the wood. 

 

She’d need to get home. She had to protect them. No matter what. Red, bloody red, covered a portion of her floor, as an unseen wind swept past her feet, tugging at her ears. She folded them down, and shaped the piece of red, even fighting the wind as she went. Furious determination suffused her body, giving her the strength to resist the wind. She sidestepped, drove the pole into the ground to give herself another color…

 

But only the tiniest stripe of light, icy blue showed. Chiller narrowed her eyes, but began her work regardless. With careful patience, she shaped the upper area, the second bubble of her shape. The light blues slowly overlapped, and it took ages for it to be finished… But when she was done, she leapt back, overlooking her work.

 

It was a heart, that was filled with spun strands of energy. It was very beautiful, set on the white background. Chiller smiled proudly, letting her ears stick straight up again, happy and excited… 

 

And a laugh made her ears split into their three piece, flattening to her head in terror as a black crack appeared through the centre of the room… And the black of the soul she had drawn, her soul, crept, crackling and tendril-like, across her soul, absorbing the other colours, until it exploded out, showering the room in black dust, plunging Chiller into the depths of her soul, into the deep, endless fear that she would one day go back to how she had started.

 

A monster.

 

A killer.

 

Gaster’s most Prize Creation.

 

His perfect little Hunter.

 

______________________________

 

Sans heard the thump up the stairs, but had not been expecting this. He had walked into Chiller’s room with expectations of her having punched a wall… Not seeing her sitting, curled into a ball on the floor, surrounded in a nova of purple magic, her eyes bleeding into a violet halo above her head. It stuck to her bones and gave them an unearthly glow, her teeth locked, fangs sunk into one another, steeling herself against some unseen danger. Her heaving, wheezy, slightly screeched pants could be heard even through the dull thrum of an ancient, dangerous magic. 

 

Sans froze, then shouted. “DAD!!” He screamed, unable to look away from his sister, the blanket still half-curled around her previously sleeping form. It was starting to char at the edges where her magic was lancing across her body, confusing her shape in the chaotic swirl of light. 

 

Grillby had raced upstairs the moment he heard his adopted son’s terrified cry. He arrived at the doorway, still in his business clothes, black and white, tuxedo and tie. 

 

And all Chiller saw, was Gaster. Standing beside her brother, hand on his shoulder. Sans, staring at her in fear and horror, Papyrus appearing behind Gaster with an equal expression of terror. Chiller whipped to her feet, her magic forming with a  _ fwump, _ her cloak appearing and the emblem blazing onto it. It swished back, blown by an unseen wind, as she raised her right hand, palm out, pointed directly at Grillby. The magic swirled down her arm, focusing at a center point of her palm, ready to fire. She stared in the face of the monster she was about to murder, fully ready to kill him, when she was forced to look into his eyes. 

 

_ Waitaminute… Gaster wouldn’t look scared. _ She realized, and her vision cleared.  _ Grillby! _

 

Recognition flashed across her face, and her eyes widened. She leapt into the air and spun to the side, pointing her palm at the open window, back, outward to the forest. She wouldn’t hit anything. She clamped down on the blast, not wanting to fire until she landed. She drove feet into the floor, right foot out front, claws sliding out and driving into the wooden floor, giving herself a stabilizer as she bent her knees and ankles, a springboard to support the backfire. Her left hand slapped up, supporting her other arm, as the beam fired.

 

The blast expanded outward, then smoothed down, the booming noise felt more than heard. Eerie shadows covered the room as light spread out, Chiller’s head ducked into her elbow, hidden from the intense glow. Grillby, Sans and Papyrus all looked away as well… Until the blast stopped.

 

The second it did, Chiller’s arm fell, her entire body slumping forward. Smoke enveloped her right hand, bleeding around the room. Her mouth opened to allow her quiet, heavy breathing, and her eyes widened. She had almost killed him.  _ The one helping us… I almost killed him. _

 

Grillby watched in horror as the blast vanished, Chiller’s back arching as she went lax. She slowly brought her left paw out of the floor, placing it under her body… 

 

And her knees gave out. She reached out, claws sinking into her body to keep herself from smacking into the hardwood. Grillby rushed over first, while the magic that kept all skeleton’s forms together, the magic-muscular coordination grid, wasn’t firing right, her legs uselessly kicking in tiny, twitchy spasms as she tried to regain control. She was exhausted, essentially useless, her claws the only things keeping her even semi-stable.

 

Grillby gently tried to help her to her feet, magic still buzzing across her body as she struggled to stand. She violently swatted his hands away with one of hers, using her other hand to try and struggle into a standing position.

 

“D-don’t touch me! I-I’ll burn you!” She snarled. “Fire elemental or not, I-I’ll magically burn you!” Grillby snapped his hand back, and Chiller sunk her other hand back into the bed, pulling her body underneath her. She gave a strangled grunt as she reshifted her body into a standing position. 

 

“Chiller…” Grillby said softly. “Are you alright?” He approached her slowly, until energy sparked down her spine. Then he took a step back. 

 

Papyrus shot forward, leaping onto the bed, gripping onto her shoulders. “CHILLER!” He shouted, looking into the light, faintly purple eyes. 

 

“H-hang on Papyrus… Give me a second…” She said softly, her breathing strained and heavy, but cool and careful.

 

Papyrus remained there, gently hanging onto his elder sister’s shoulders, at her face level, being the thing that held onto her sanity. Finally, one last set of purple sparks shot down her spine, and her coat flared, before going still. Her eyesight so flashed white, and her eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen.

 

And Chiller collapsed. Grillby shot forward and caught her before she could hit the ground. 

 

“What in the…” He gasped quietly, lifting her light form up. Both of the boys watched with wide, concerned eyes until Sans spoke up.

 

“Magical exhaustion.” He whispered. “It would happen to all of us… After an attack…” Sans said, pulling onto the tips of his toes to grab onto his older sister’s hand. 

 

“...These… Have happened to all of you?” Grillby asked, sitting on the bed, cradling the half-cat’s limp form. 

 

“Sometimes…” Papyrus whispered. “I ever had one.”

 

“...I’ve had several. Normally, for me, they… Were only me activating my magic, making things levitate…” Sans sounded strained, hissed. “Chiller’s were always… Violent. If… She was in her upright form, it would end with a scorched wall, or a tree on fire…” He looked away. “If she was… In her normal form, it… Could end with a boulder turned into rubble… Or… A pile of dust, and her just sitting, staring at it.” He lunged forward, hugging Grillby’s arm.

 

“Don’t hurt her please.” He whispered, pressing his face into Grillby’s sleeve. 

 

Grillby blinked in surprise as Sans hugged him, and again when Papyrus leaned on his back, looking at Chiller. Her ears were relaxed, leaned backward, her face slack and eased, the lines of fear and pain smoothed and flat in cool sleep. Not even her tail twitched, hanging limp and quiet below her feet. 

 

Sans, as his grip slowly relaxed on Grillby’s arm, leaned further and further into the fire elemental’s shoulder, falling asleep. Gradually, Papyrus did too, leaned over Grillby’s shoulders. 

 

The fire elemental himself fell asleep too, leaning against the wall, the tiny, curious family gathered and cuddled together, peaceful for once.

 

______________________________

 

Chiller woke up in the middle of the night, the only memory she had was of passing out. 

 

She was laying on top of Grillby, on her bed, with her brothers curled up near the fire elemental, splattered across the bed. As quickly as she dared, she slipped off of the elemental and the bed, her paws pressing softly against the wood, unbelievably careful not to make a single noise. 

 

The moment her paws were on the floor, she forced her daily wear to form, the same thing she had worn the day that she had terrified the officers. With the black-grey outfit concealing her in the shadows, she walked over to her window, and slid out of it, her catlike body slipping easily from the square shape, claws latching onto the soft, cold roof tiles, giving her enough grip to not slide off the slanted surface. She unhooked her claws on her left foot, taking a step back, leaning forward, bringing out the claws of her hands, sliding down the icy tar, until she leapt off, landing softly on the frozen ground. 

 

She had a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. 

 

This was the pinnacle of bad ideas.

 

She ran for the forest, not giving a damn about what anyone thought. 

 

She was about to give up her life of peace, to give her brothers one.

 

______________________________

 

She reached an empty clearing, and looked around. It was far enough from town. 

 

_ This, is the stupidest thing, I have ever done.  _ She decided… And raised her left hand, closing it into a fist, her pointer finger and thumb in the shape of a gun. She turned her back, facing a tree, and lowered her head. She extended her hand directly up… And focused a flare. 

 

Gaster had taught her to send up a magical flare after she killed a human. She charged one… And fired, the blast heating the space around her hand as a spark of magic shot into the air, and exploded like a firework, showering the forest in a soft purple glow.

 

It wasn’t long until a distinctive warp in the air around her told the entrance of a particular person. There was only one person who could warp space-time, other than Sans...

 

“...So you didn’t come in person after all.” She whispered. She could smell it the instant he arrived. It wasn't Gaster… but he was watching. 

 

“I’m disappointed, C-0. You were perfect.” The fish monster growled to her, a trident materializing in it’s fins. 

 

“Too bad I’m not C-0, Dr. Remora. I would’ve loved to be perfect.” She turned around slowly, the black on her body warping and remorphing into a coat, just like Gaster’s. Her arms folded, hands clasped softly behind her back, arms gently laid back.

 

“Looks like I’ll need to take you home then, imperfection. We can make you perfect again!” He smiled snakily. 

 

She shook her head slowly. “Y’see, I planned on showing this off to Gaster, but you’ll be a fine test.” She said indifferently, and she raised her hands, black flames beginning on the tips of her fingers. “I know he’s watching anyway. What level is that construct?” She asked, nodding at his trident. 

 

“None of your business, experiment!” He leveled it, pointing it at her.

 

“Wait a second, why did I ask?” She asked sarcastically, placing her hands in her pockets. “I already know the answer!” She jolted back, faking fear very well. 

 

“Hah!” Growled the fish monster, taking a step closer. “You do? What how high is it then?” He demanded.

 

Her false fear, which had tricked Dr. Remora, vanished, replaced with the cocky smugness of a person who knew exactly what they were doing. “Not high enough.” She purred, and swung her right hand up, black flames streaming off her fingers.

 

A spike, a tentacle, melting, twisted black, laced with purple light, shot out of the ground, directly below his trident, snapping it in half. She flicked out her other hand as that tentacle melted, and many, many more rose up beside her, the fierce points centered upon the fish monster, his gills flaring in confusion and fear. 

 

She ran a hand down one of the tentacles. “These are level 40. Can you summon something to fight that?” She growled slyly.

 

Dr. Remora focused, and summoned a level 35 spear. There were 16 tentacles. 

 

_ I can beat her no problem! Each tentacle is only a level 2.5! _ He laughed at her idiocy.

 

She flicked a finger, and one of the tentacles shot forward. His spear connected… And shattered, the tentacle making a terrifying shriek at being wounded.

 

“Oh I’m sorry, you misunderstood! The attack isn’t level 40! The tentacles are!” She smirked, and called the attacking construct back to her. 

 

“E-each of those is… Level 40?!” He gasped, finding a new respect and a healthy fear of his opponent. 

 

She laughed. “So stupid…” She purred. And shot forward, the tentacles following suit as she met him head on, claws to sword. He swung to the side, forcing her off, as her tail commanded the tentacles. He was so busy fighting off their sharp tips that he didn’t see her claws at his throat until far, far too late. 

 

She knew she had only won so quickly because of her surprise tactic. He staggered, her having torn his windpipe to shreds. He looked up in surprise that he was still alive, until he wasn’t, as she shoved her hand through his chest, groping through his slimy, squishy body for a firm, glass heart. His eyes widened as her claws tore his torso into a bloody mess. She fixed her claws around the slippery soul, and tore it out of his body, strings of yellow and orange magic snapping as she separated him from his body. 

 

He stared as he collapsed to the ground in dust, hopelessly lost and alone and scared. Then, she took a look at the object in her hand… and she raised his soul up. “GASTER! I KNOW YOU’RE LISTENING!” She roared. “I WILL MURDER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR HELPERS! THEN I’M COMING FOR YOU!” She howled to the moonlight… And just like that, she took the soul, swallowing it swiftly. The energy filled the burning hunger in her soul, quelling her constant need for raw flesh.

 

She flicked her wrist, desumoning the tentacles. They faded into oblivion quickly and easily, faint and without mess. 

 

Her hand was coated in blood, it dripping from her claws lazily, but she didn’t want to take it off. It was a mark. 

 

Instead, she walked over to a tree and stripped an area of it’s bark off with a sweep of her clean paw. Then, with her bloody paw, she carved a line. A blood-marked, vicious line. The extra globs of the orange-red liquid that had been on her claw dribbled and leaked down the trunk, onto the ground. She cut another section of bark off… And pressed her hand into the dry space, creating a visceral handprint. 

 

She admired her memorial momentarily, before taking her clean hand and writing a note in windings. Then she turned and walked away, not caring about the red that still dropped from the ends of her paws.

 

Far, far away, in the Hotlands laboratory, Gaster sat back on his chair, looking at the screens in Snowdin, the recording having stopped as she walked away.

 

_ A set _ . He thought.  _ A set of black magic, level 40 constructs.  _

 

_ Built to distract. Not kill. _

 

He ran a hand over his head. That had been brutal to watch. He even jumped a bit when he saw the tentacles appear. 

 

_...she’s perfect.  _ He thought. 


	20. Don’t You Dare Forget the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're at the end...

When Chiller walked through the front door of the home, fury and fire in her eyes, there was a scent around her. Like chaos and death and power, flowing off her in dangerous waves. She... Smelled of fury and battle, of blood and gore, of thousands and thousands of LVs…

 

She had been gone all night, not like she had noticed. Grillby was making breakfast when she walked in. Sans and Papyrus had been playing. 

 

The second she reentered the house, both Sans and Papyrus’ eyes flashed their respective colors. They knew that smell. Quickly, they scrambled out of her way, pressing to the floor. She walked past them without batting an eye, storming upstairs. 

 

Her tail swished behind her, tip twitching in fury and excitement. Grillby’s eyes followed her up the stairs, not understanding why the boys were cowering before her, until he saw her face.

 

The slightest, lightest streaks of orangey-red blood cutting across her muzzle, blazes of fire lit up on her white face. Her eyes were slits, little more than slashes, tiny, tiny splits of purple in the black, furious void. Her eyes were narrowed. Her lips were pulled up just slightly, revealing her fangs, into a semi-crazed grin.

 

Something, somewhere had pissed her off. 

 

It didn’t matter what. 

 

As much as Grillby would’ve supported her, he really, really didn’t feel like getting eaten or blasted today, and tiny streaks of black magic had tipped her fingers. It wasn’t a positive sign. 

 

And that’s how it went. Chiller would vanish, sometimes early morning, sometimes late evening. And she would return, the same predatory fury/excitement cross evident on her face. Once, she came home with a thin stream of dust across her arm. 

 

_ What is she doing? _ Grillby thought. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t get up enough of his bravery to ask her. Maybe that was a predator effect… That occurred with regular hunting. 

 

Meanwhile, the Royal Guard struggled to find Gaster, who had hidden deep in his laboratory, near the Core. 

 

Gaster really didn’t feel like being caught and put on trial for something that no one else understood. 

 

_ Plus… _ He thought grimly as he looked at the screen for Hotland, where Chiller was patiently searching, nose to the ground. Then she blinked, and smirked. 

 

_ She just found me anyway. _

 

______________________________

 

She had found Gaster. 

 

That was her one thought, a disbelief, as she ran for home. 

 

For the first time in three weeks, since she started the killings, she was truly happy. 

 

Joyful.

 

She leapt up onto the roof, it being near midnight, and crept into her brothers’ room.

 

“Sans… Papyrus!” She whispered. 

 

Both of them jolted awake, fearfully staring at her for a moment. 

 

“C’mon… We’re going, now.” She nodded to the window. 

 

“W-what?” Sans whispered back, confused. 

 

“...I found Gaster.”

 

“What are we going to do?” Papyrus asked as Sans let out a gasp.

 

“We’re going to finish what I started three weeks ago…” She purred slickly. “We’re going to kill Gaster.” 

 

Sans’ eyes widened as he turned that idea in his head. Then he shifted into his four-legged form, and walked over to her. Papyrus stared at both of them in slight betrayal… Then he too shifted and joined them. 

 

“...Let’s go.” She told her brothers, slid a step-stool over to the window, and she jumped out. Her brothers followed. 

 

Minutes later, the only things left of them were their footprints. 

 

______________________________

 

Chiller and her brothers retraced their steps, down the stairs they had escaped up only months prior. 

 

Chiller lead them through the winding pathways, eventually onto a catwalk, above a fiery hell-pit of lava.

 

And at the other end, stood Gaster. 

 

He was grinning weakly, white coat flaring in the heatwaves flowing off of the molten rock below. 

 

The three siblings slowly got into as good of circling positions as they could. 

 

Gaster’s grin was constant, but sad.

 

This is where he would die.

 

And he knew it.

 

“C-0!” He called out regardless. Chiller snarled. “S-8!” Sans cringed, but growled. “And little P-12.” Papyrus looked away sadly. “It’s good to see you home.” 

 

Chiller roared. “THIS IS NO HOME!”

 

Sans howled in agreement. Still, Papyrus said nothing. 

 

“Then, why don’t you prove it? I mean… You came back, just like I programmed you…” He purred slyly. 

 

That was enough. Chiller shot forward, closely followed by Sans, as the two quickly engaged. Bones and magic were thrown in both directions, filling the air with the scent of dust and ozone. Chiller was thrust aside with a giant hand as Sans drove teeth into Gaster’s shoulder. Gaster threw Sans aside as Chiller broke the hand, charging again.

 

They went back and forth, it never seeming to end, until a missed blast tore off the railing of the catwalk. Chiller and Sans set up a steady snarl, closing in, pressing Gaster toward the lava. 

 

Gaster continued stepping back, ready to plant his feet and stop moving right at the edge. 

 

He hadn’t noticed that Papyrus had crept behind him. 

 

Chiller had. 

 

She launched forward, slamming paws into the Scientist’s chest, throwing both of them toward the fiery pit of lava. As they fell, they grappled. Chiller decided that there was no way she was going in first. Gaster scrambled, yanking out her soul and cutting a strand from its center. Chiller roared, kicking off Gaster, as the hole in her soul was filled with Black. She floated above him for a moment, before her bones surrounded in purple, and released in a triple blast, shooting her upward. She did this several more times, landing safely back on the catwalk, watching Gaster fall. 

 

As the former Royal Scientist plummeted to his doom, he clutched the soul piece. 

 

_ Oh well… _ He thought.  _ At least…  _ He pressed the soul piece into his fingertips, concentrating, trying to teleport it away.

 

_ They will remember… _ He gritted his teeth, the teleport slipping.  _ The name…  _

 

_ W! _ He flicked the magic, trying to get rid of the soul piece.  _ D!  _ Finally, it started to vanish, teleporting away.  _ GASTER! _ He shouted mentally as the piece dissapeared from his hand, and he plunged into the lava.

 

And just like that, everyone on earth forgot the name W. D. Gaster, all, except for 3. 

 

Chiller N. A.

 

Sans C.

 

Papyrus HV. 

 

His creations. 

 

The only ones to ever remember what once was. 

 

The only ones to ever remember what had been

 

The only ones to ever remember the pain that had been born.

 

And just like that, it was over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THANK YOU!
> 
> All of your love and support has given me the strength to finish this.
> 
> There will be an epilogue, so watch for that, and then my other oneshot collection. Check that collection out here https://archiveofourown.org/works/7551133
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!


	21. Epilogue; Lost Souls in Revelry, Running Wild and Running Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the end...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU ALL!!!
> 
> Thank you for being here all the way through my crazy adventure, through supporting me and other BS.
> 
> I will be continuing this fic with a collected series of oneshots. 
> 
> THank you again for reading!

The first time Sans felt the sweet, warm, setting sun on his face and saw the ball of light on the horizon, he didn’t quite believe it. 

 

It had to be a mistake.

 

He couldn't be on the surface!

 

Only one Reset ago, the kid had-...

 

No, he wouldn’t let himself think about that. 

 

Besides… Upon stepping out… Sans had watched as Frisk tore the Reset button from her load screen, threw it on the ground, and smash it with a rock. Then, she saved. On the Surface. 

 

Papyrus and Chiller stepped up beside him, the latter cradling a bundle of cloth. 

 

“...It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Papyrus said in disbelief, gazing longingly at the sun.

 

“...That it is, Papy.” Chiller whispered. “That it is.” 

 

The tiny thing that Chiller was holding whimpered, and crunched in, pressing to her chest. Papyrus leaned over his sister’s shoulder, and Sans levitated himself up. Chiller looked between them, and snorted. Then, she softly pulled the blanket away from the thing inside. She revealed a face, like a fox’s, but covered in a bone-skin sheath, like her own. The sheath covered his entire body, like a skin… But in the few places it was cracked, there was no flesh. Sans smiled. 

 

“What’s his name?” He asked, looking at the baby skeleton-fox. 

 

“...Eras.” Chiller purred. “Alphys found him, in the lower levels of the labs. Apparently this is what Gaster did to that chunk of my soul he took.” Gently as she could, she pulled out Eras’ soul. Compared to another child of his size, his soul was tiny, less than half of what it should’ve been. In the upper left-hand corner, was a small spot of black. The rest of his soul was green and deep, deep blue. A few shreds of orange lay in the center. 

 

She lay his soul back in his chest, and placed the blanket back over his face. “He had been out of containment for maybe three hours when Alphys found him. He was crying, blinded by the light, very weak… Just crawling around and calling. He cut himself up on the floor. She took him to me… Because he’s a predator.” She said, looking back out over the Surface. “So he’s… More or less my son, or littlest brother.” Her tail flicked, then lay still on top of her feet. 

 

“Heh heh… Well, in that case…” Sans lowered himself to the ground. “I guess you’re a skele-mom!” He winked. 

 

Papyrus, for once, laughed happily. 

 

“That one was a stretch, Sans.” Chiller snickered. Eras gave a small cry as she shifted. She quickly shushed him and shifted him into a more stable position. He stopped crying.

 

And the three siblings, and now, their fourth, mysterious brother, sat down on the hill, staring back at the world. 

 

“...This was the good ending, right Sans?” Chiller whispered. 

 

“...This is as good as it’s getting.” He returned, leaning into her arm. 

 

“...Then I’m glad.” She smiled, and let the words fade into the sunset.

  
  



End file.
